Tyson's divine 'meeting' inspires comeback fight

NEW YORK - Mike Tyson, one of the greatest and most controversial boxers in the sport's history, is no stranger to the fine art of promotion.

- NYTIMES

At 58, and long past his athletic prime, he was still able to add a layer of curiosity to his made-for-TV boxing match against YouTuber Jake Paul by telling Interview magazine that God had told him to come out of retirement while he was experiencing the hallucinogenic effects of smoking toad venom.

"You rub it down until it becomes fine sand, and then you smoke it," Tyson said of a substance produced by the Sonoran Desert toad during an interview with Rosie Perez, an actress and avid boxing fan.

"Then you meet God. And this is what God told me to do."

Tyson, a former heavyweight champion who has not had a professional bout since 2005, faces Paul, 27, on Nov 15 (Nov 16 morning, Singapore time) in a live spectacle on Netflix, which has been pushed with a behind-the-scenes documentary series.

It helps, of course, that Paul's YouTube channel has more than 20 million subscribers.

But leave it to Tyson to generate his own publicity.