５８歳マイク・タイソンが復帰戦　ボクシング界からは批判の声

【ロサンゼルスＡＦＰ＝時事】ボクシング元ヘビー級世界王者のマイク・タイソン（５８）が１５日、２００５年以来１９年ぶりとなる復帰戦に臨む。しかし、タイソンのプロデビューから４０年近く経つ中、今回の試合開催にはボクシング界から批判の声も多く上がっている。（写真はマイク・タイソン）
　対戦相手は米ユーチューバーのジェイク・ポール。会場は米テキサス州アーリントンのＡＴ＆Ｔスタジアムで、２分８ラウンドの公式戦として実施され、米動画配信大手ネットフリックスで生中継される。
　試合はもともと７月に開催される予定だったが、タイソンが米マイアミからロサンゼルスへ向かう機内で潰瘍のため吐血し、治療が必要になったことで延期に。今回の一戦はタイソンにとってリスクの高すぎる見世物だと批判する声も強まった。
　英有名プロモーターのエディー・ハーン氏は「この年齢でマイク・タイソンがリングに立つべきだと思う人がいたら、その人は彼に対して全く感情がないか、ただのばかかのどちらかだ。開催されるべきじゃない」と指摘。ハーン氏のライバルプロモーターのフランク・ウォーレン氏も「５８歳という年齢で戦うべきでないのは明らかだ」「少しでも頭がある人なら、ばかげていることは分かる」と同調する。
　この試合で２０００万ドル（約３１億２０００万円）のファイトマネーを手にすると伝えられているタイソンは、自身の健康に対する懸念を一蹴し、批判的な人々は嫉妬に駆られていると主張している。
　１３日に現地で行われた最後の会見では、試合前の話題に触れることをあからさまに避け、「ただ戦う準備ができている」「戦うのが楽しみだ」と話した。
　対戦相手のポールは、ユーチューバーとして名を上げた後、ボクサーに転向した２７歳。２０１８年に同じユーチューバーとデビュー戦を戦った後、これまでに総合格闘技（ＭＭＡ）ファイターやプロボクサーらと対戦し、これまでの戦績は１１戦１０勝（７ＫＯ）１敗となっている。
　１２日に行われた公開練習では好調な仕上がりを強調し、「マイクにとっては短い夜になるだろう」と宣言した。
　１９８０年代のヘビー級を席巻した全盛期のタイソンならポールを瞬殺するのは明らかだが、当時の才能や破壊的なパワーが今も残っているかは疑問符がつく。
　ボクシング界を長年見続けてきた伝説的プロモーター、ボブ・アラム氏（９２）は「答えはノー」と断言する。
　アラム氏は先月にウェブサイトのＳｅｃｏｎｄｓｏｕｔ．ｃｏｍで、「５８歳という年齢では、どれだけ力があって動けても戦うことはできない」と指摘し、「マイクがけがをしないことを願うが、勝ち目はほとんどないだろう」と語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/11/14-16:55）

Nearly 40 years after making his professional debut, and 19 years after being battered into retirement, a 58-year-old Mike Tyson will climb back into the ring on Friday for a Netflix-backed bout that has drawn widespread condemnation across the boxing world.
Tyson, who terrorised the heavyweight division during an imperious reign in the late 1980s, is lacing up the gloves once more to take on Youtuber Jake Paul, 27, in an officially sanctioned fight at AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, in Arlington, Texas.
The fight, which will be comprised of eight two-minute rounds, was initially due to take place in July but was postponed in May after Tyson required medical treatment on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles after vomiting blood due to a bleeding ulcer.
That gory mid-air emergency has provided another piece of ammunition for the numerous critics who have condemned Friday's contest as a macabre circus act that poses an unacceptable level of risk for Tyson, who last graced a professional ring in 2005, when he was beaten via a technical knockout after quitting on his stool against Irish journeyman Kevin McBride.
- 'It shouldn't be happening' -
Twenty years ago, Mike Tyson retired from boxing, and was shot to pieces, right? I mean, completely shot, the prominent British fight promoter Eddie Hearn said this week.
If anyone thinks that Mike Tyson should be in a ring at this age, you either have absolutely no emotional feelings toward the man, or you're an idiot. It shouldn't be happening.
Hearn's rival promoter Frank Warren echoed those sentiments.
Mike Tyson is 58 years of age and he shouldn't be fighting, Warren said after the bout was announced. It's as simple as that.
Anyone with an ounce of brains knows that it is ridiculous. You can be on a motorway stuck in a traffic jam and you get to the end of it and all it is is people who have stopped to look at a crash -- and that's what this is.
Tyson, who US reports say is being paid around $20 million for Friday's contest, has brushed off the concerns for his wellbeing, insisting when critics from the boxing world are motivated by jealousy.
I'm beautiful, that's all I can say, he said earlier this year. The people who said that wish they were up here. No-one else can do this.
At an open workout in Texas this week, Tyson declared that a gruelling training camp had left him with the conviction that I'm tougher than I believed I was.
When I agreed to this fight and started training, I thought 'What was I thinking of?' But I've finished the process. The fight is the party. All the hard work is done.
At a final press conference in Texas on Wednesday, a stony-faced Tyson pointedly declined to engage in the pre-fight hype.
I'm just ready to fight, he said. I'm looking forward to fighting.
- Injury fears -
A global audience of several million watching on Netflix, and tens of thousands inside the AT&T Stadium, will be watching on Friday to see whether Tyson's hard work pays off.
His opponent Paul -- who was born six months before Tyson bit off a chunk of Evander Holyfield's ear in their infamous 1997 rematch -- rose to prominence as a Youtuber, before turning his attention to boxing.
Since his first fight against a fellow Youtuber in 2018, Paul's opponents have included a basketball player, mixed martial arts fighters and other professional boxers. In 11 fights he has won 10 (seven by knockout) and lost one.
I feel really good, sharp, powerful and explosive. It's going to be a short night for Mike, Paul said at Tuesday's open workout, where he appeared wearing a bizarre head-dress in the form of a rooster.
It goes without saying that a prime, 1980s-era Tyson would almost certainly have dealt with Paul within a few minutes.
Does he retain enough residue of the talent and destructive power that made him the youngest heavyweight champion in history in 1986, at the age of 20 years and four months? Bob Arum, the legendary 92-year-old boxing promoter who has seen it all, is unequivocal.
The answer is no, Arum told Secondsout.com last month. A 58-year-old guy, no matter how good they were, no matter how athletic they were, are not gonna be able to fight.
You can't throw punches like you're supposed to, you can't do a lot of things. I hope Mike doesn't get hurt, but I really give him relatively no chance.