Vegan diet, intense cardio and stem cell therapy – How Mike Tyson managed to get ripped at 53 as boxing comeback looms
Mike Tyson has attributed his incredible body transformation to stem cell therapy and a rigid vegan diet.
The youngest world heavyweight champion in history ballooned to more than 300lbs in weight at his heaviest almost a decade ago.
However, after drastically changing his diet and implementing revolutionary reparative medication, 'Iron Mike' is looking more streamlined and more devastating than ever.
Tyson is reportedly considering making a return to the squared circle at the age of 53, with an announcement on his opponent expected this week.
Whilst training with UFC legends Vitor Belfort and Henry Cejudo, the former undisputed heavyweight champion displayed a significantly more shredded physique.
Prior to officially announcing his desire to return, Tyson was asked by rapper LL Cool J how he would get fighting fit in just six to eight weeks.
He told : "Really I would just change my diet and just do cardio work. Cardio has to start, you have to have your endurance to go and do the process of training.
"So something to do is get in cardio, I would try and get two hours of cardio a day, make sure you get that stuff in. You’re gonna make sure you’re eating the right food.
"For me it’s almost like slave food. Doing what you hate to do but doing it like it’s nothing. Getting up when you don’t want to get up. That’s what it is. It’s becoming a slave to life.
"People think a slave to life is just enjoying drugs and living your life. Being a slave to life means being the best person you can be, being the best you can possibly be, and when you are at the best you can possibly be is when you no longer exist and nobody talks about you. That’s when you’re at your best."
Tyson continued: "My mind wouldn’t belong to me. My mind would belong to somebody that disliked me enough to break my soul, and I would give them my mind for that period of time.
"Six weeks of this and I’d be in the best shape I’ve ever dreamed of being in. As a matter of fact, I’m going through that process right now. And you know what else I did, I did stem-cell research."
Stem-cell research (also known as regenerative medicine) promotes the repair response of diseased, dysfunctional or injured tissue using stem cells or their derivatives.
It is the latest advancement in organ transplantation and uses cells instead of donor organs, which are limited in supply.
After LL Cool J asked if that meant Tyson’s white blood cells had been spun and then put back in, Tyson continued: "Yes. As they took the blood it was red and when it came back it was almost transfluid [sic], I could almost see through the blood, and then they injected it in me. And I’ve been weird ever since, I’ve got to get balanced now."
The necessity to repair the former heavyweight champion was caused by the excessive weight gain following his retirement in 2005 and his hedonistic lifestyle.
Excessive cocaine abuse left the heavyweight in a serious state of bother and led him to adopt a vegan lifestyle.
He told “I was so congested from all the drugs and bad cocaine, I could hardly breathe." Tyson also revealed in the interview, “I had high blood pressure, was almost dying, and had arthritis."
During an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2013, Tyson credits his plant-based diet for saving his life.
He said: "Well, my life is different today because I have stability in my life. I’m not on drugs.
"I’m not out on the streets or in clubs and everything in my life that I do now is structured around the development of my life and my family. I lost weight.
"I dropped over 100lbs and I just felt like changing my life, doing something different and I became a vegan."