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Kevin McBride, a little-known Irish Olympian who had struggled to get going in his professional career was offered the chance of a lifetime in 2005 when he earned a shot at boxing icon Tyson. The massive heavyweight towered over his rival and weighed almost 40lb more than him.
But he was still terrified of his power, and rightfully so. The legendary puncher hit him with all he had for six rounds, and the Monaghan native claims he still feels the effects of the damage he received that night almost two decades later.
Back in June of 2005, it appeared that McBride had sent Tyson into a retirement from which he wouldn’t return. But 19 years later he has signed up to face YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul on Friday night in a massive crossover bout that will see boxing come to Netflix for the first time.
And while Paul is a big favourite for the bout given the fact he is 31 years younger and an active fighter, there is still an understanding that he has never faced such a ferocious puncher. It’s a feeling McBride remembers all too well.
“A lot of people said that I have no chance to beat Mike Tyson,” he explained in an exclusive chat with Bloody Elbow. “With his career and what he’s achieved, they didn’t think it was possible. But I had a different plan in mind.”
McBride was training alongside Irish standout Paschal Collins at the time, who ended up in his corner. The Dubliner’s brother Steve Collins famously used hypnotism to numb the pain from Chris Eubank’s punches in their bout, and the heavyweight opted to do the same.
“I trained very hard for eight weeks and even worked with a hypnotist so that every time Tyson would hit me I’d be smiling,” he added. “So I was smiling a lot that night! People don’t realize that when they ask me ‘what was going through your head before the fight?’ I say ‘honestly, what the hell did I get myself in for?
“The hypnotist did no harm, I just didn’t want to leave any stones unturned. So you could have brought ten hypnotists in and it wouldn’t have done much good with how hard Mike punches, I just wanted to go in there with the belief of winning.
