Home Boxing News Freddie Roach speaks on the dangers of training Mike Tyson

Freddie Roach speaks on the dangers of training Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson

Freddie Roach has revealed what it was like to train Mike Tyson and the trouble he had working with him on the mitts.

Roach took over training duties after Tyson’s knockout loss to Lennox Lewis in 2002 as he made one last run for heavyweight glory late in his career.

“Mike’s a great guy and I did train him for a couple of fights before the end of his career but his heart wasn’t really wasn’t in it at that time,” Roach told DAZN.

“If he didn’t knock you out in a couple of rounds he’d get a torn meniscus in his knee or an injury somewhere here or there.

“But the thing is Mike is a great puncher, he trains very hard.

“Being with Mike for two fights it was a lot of fun, I enjoyed it. Catching him on the mitts was very difficult and a lot of fun.

“Getting whacked by Mike Tyson with the right hook isn’t my favourite spot but I lived through it!”

Roach has previously spoken about what it was like to get hit by ‘Iron Mike’.

“He was very explosive. He hit me in the chin one day, I didn’t go down but I was definitely knocked out on my feet!” Roach told FightHub.

“He hit me so hard! His speed was the big factor. He has it on tape somewhere but he won’t give it to me.”

Roach trained Tyson for his first-round knockout win over Clifford Etienne in 2003 and his surprise fourth-round knockout loss to Brit Danny Williams the following year.

The Wild Card Gym head trainer says that if Tyson wasn’t jailed for three years for rape in the early 1990s, he could have had a different career.

“If he didn’t go to jail he might have been one of the greatest of all time, I do think that, yes,” Roach said.

“I was in jail once for one day and I didn’t enjoy that one day, so spending three years in jail I think that might take a lot out of anybody in the world.”