I’m the last person to beat Mike Tyson – but then I became a tree surgeon and now I lay pavements

KEVIN McBride has warned Jake Paul that he will think the “whole of America has hit him” when he gets punched by Mike Tyson.

YouTuber Paul, 27, faces off against against ‘Iron Mike’ on Friday night in a bout live on streaming giant Netflix.

Follow all the action from Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson with SunSport’s LIVE BLOG

McBride, 51, was the last person to face Tyson in a pro fight Back in 2005.

The ex-Irish boxer defeated the ‘baddest man on the planet’ by wearing him down until he sunk to the canvas.

He later became a tree surgeon, and now paves pavements in the US.

Speaking to SunSport from his Boston home, McBride said: “Even though Tyson’s 58, he’s still very dangerous and looks like he still has that power.

“Fair dues to Jake Paul for getting in the ring with him. I don’t think Jake realises it is a different level.

When I was a kid growing up I idolised Tyson. So, to fight him was a surreal moment.”

“When he gets hit by Tyson on the chin, he’s going to think the whole of America has hit him.”

19 years ago, many expected journeyman McBride to be quickly dispatched.

The former Olympian had already lost four times before he took on Tyson.

It was a fight that, despite its dangers, McBride couldn’t turn down.

“Getting in the ring with Mike Tyson was like a dream come true for me,” he said.

“When I was a kid growing up I idolised Tyson. So, to fight him was a surreal moment. It was a Cinderella story – like James J. Braddock – to fight Mike Tyson.

“I boxed in the Olympics for Ireland in 1992. I didn’t win, but I was in the biggest Games in the world.

“I turned professional after the Olympics and I said to my father, ‘I’d love to fight Mike Tyson one day.’ He said, ‘You never know, it might happen.’

“My father passed away before it happened, but years later he was right and I’m in the ring with the most feared man in the world.

“Dreams happen and that was my fairytale. It’s a great claim to fame to say I’ve beaten the most feared man in the world.

“Once he’s in the ring, he’s an animal. He wants you out of there, no matter what.

“I just wanted to feel Mike Tyson’s power. That was 19 years ago, and I still feel his power today.

“He’d hit you on one side of the body and you would feel something move on the other side.”

Their fight would have happened sooner, but for Frank Maloney’s intervention that McBride might have been “killed” in the ring.

“I was just a journeyman and I just loved boxing,” McBride continued.

“I was offered to fight Tyson a few times before. Once with Frank Maloney, but Peter McNeeley fought him instead. I think Frank didn’t want to get me killed!

“I’d have fought him, though. You have no fear when you’re a fighter, it’s in your blood.”

McBride recalled what it was like to share the ring with “Animal” Tyson who would revert to dirty tactics during the fight.

He said: “Once he’s in the ring, he’s an animal. He wants you out of there, no matter what.

“I remember he hit me so hard in the 6th round I thought there was Leprecauns playing drums in my head, and I said to him ‘Is that all you’ve got?’ I was hoping that’s all he had got!

“He also tried to break my arm during the fight, and bite my nipple off.

“I felt a bid sad I’d beaten him, because he was such a legend and idol for me.”

“I remember the excruciating pain of that as I pulled my chest away. I’m just glad he had a mouthpiece in, otherwise he would have bitten my nipple off, as well as Evan Holyfield’s ear!”

In the post-fight press conference, Tyson revealed he was retiring – insisting the hunger had gone.

However, McBride disputed that and insisted he beat him fair and square.

“After I fought him he said the hunger had gone. But he was trying to kill me in the ring,” McBride divulged.

“He was in there to do damage. I physically beat him, I caught him with some great uppercuts, and I could feel the energy sapping from him.

“I leaned on him and he fell. When he was sitting on the ground, I was thinking of picking him up but I thought I’d let him sit down for a while longer because he’s dangerous – he’d probably bite you on the way up!

“I never won a world title in my career. But it was my world title beating Mike Tyson.”

Surprisingly, McBride had mixed emotions about beating his hero Tyson.

He then got an opportunity to meet another idol.

He said: “I felt a bid sad I’d beaten him, because he was such a legend and idol for me. But I was also very happy.

“I remember at the press conference afterwards someone told me Muhammad Ali, who was there, was leaving and he wanted to say goodbye to me.

“So I jumped up from my chair and went over to him and gave him a big hug and kiss, and I said to him ‘This is the greatest night of my life, as far as boxing is concerned, I beat a legend and met the greatest of all time.’

“I swear to God, Ali threw a few punches at me and said, ‘I’m the greatest, you’re the latest!'”

For his efforts, McBride was paid $150,000 dollars for the fight.

Amusingly, he confessed he cashed the cheque before he stepped into the ring.

He laughed: “I remember the day before getting a cashier’s check paid because I didn’t trust them!

“I didn’t believe they were going to pay me, so I went to the bank that day to make sure the money went into my account.

“So I knew I got paid before I went in the ring. But I would’ve fought Mike Tyson for nothing.”

Today, McBride’s life is very different. He occasionally goes to the gym and boxes.

I had a dream – to go to the Olympics, fight professionally, then to fight my idol, Mike Tyson.

“I am happy I got to do just that.”

But after working as a tree surgeon, he’s now enjoying hard labour as a paver.

“I have kids and a lovely wife,” he said.

“I still go to the gym and do a little bit boxing.

“But life goes on. I’m paving now, which is not easy – it’s manual work and I’ve lost about 15 pounds doing it.

“Every morning I’ll get a cup of coffee and a couple of donuts… I’m living life now, everybody has to live life.

“I had a dream – to go to the Olympics, fight professionally, then to fight my idol, Mike Tyson.

“I am happy I got to do just that.”

Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk