ARLINGTON, Texas– Mike Tysonwho struggled to complete eight rounds of boxing on Friday night, has hinted he might fight again.

The moment came during a post-fight interview, when Netflix reporter Ariel Helwani asked Tyson, 58, if his loss to Jake Paul by unanimous decision at AT&T Stadium could be his last fight.

“I don’t think so,” replied the former heavyweight champion of the world.

Maybe Tyson just needed a good night’s sleep. Or time to think. Or to chat with trusted advisors.

But there is reason to believe that his response was more than just a thought.

James Spraggins, a personal trainer who worked with Tyson for about three years, spoke of a “Baddest Man Over 50” tournament. Championship Rounds, a news and media website, posted an article on Instagram in February about the potential event.

On February 6, From The Stands, a media group that covers MMA, posted on Instagram:

“Reportedly, the four combat sports legends who have been targeted for the ‘baddest man over 50’ tournament are Mark Hunt, Mike Tyson, David Tua and Lennox Lewis. Three of the four targeted participants verbally agreed to the idea.

Mike Tyson and Jake Paul fight LIVE on Netflix: Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson at AT&T Stadium. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for Netflix © 2024)

Tyson has not commented publicly on the tournament, but the concept is not new to him.

A similar idea was started in 2020 when Tyson participated in the formation of Mike Tyson’s Legends Only League, LLC.

The company launched Tyson’s exhibition fight with Roy Jones Jr. in November 2020, when he was 54 and Jones was 51.

At the time, company representatives said the Tyson-Jones fight generated 1.6 million pay-per-view views at $49.99 each. But this was all happening long before Friday night, when Tyson looked more like the oldest man on the planet than the baddest man on the planet.

When Helwani asked Tyson what he had in mind, Tyson suggested he might fight Paul’s older brother Logan, who was in the ring and looked shocked.

“I’m going to kill you, Mike,” Logan said.

Tyson smiled.

“So here we go,” Tyson replied, looking too exhausted to restart a round or make any long-term decisions.