I stopped a vegan diet and ate two unusual meats – it helped me lose over 100lbs

Boxing legend Mike Tyson admitted to ditching his vegan diet to get back in top shape for his comeback fight.

Tyson is currently preparing to take on YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul (10-1) on November 15, in what will be ‘Iron Mike’s’ first professional bout since 2005. The former heavyweight champion dominated the ring in his prime, with 44 of his 50 wins coming by knockout, and was last seen donning his gloves in an exhibition match with Roy Jones Jr back in November 2020.

Dubbed ‘Lockdown Knockdown’, the exhibition sparked worldwide attention, and Tyson’s sharpness in the ring surprised many. However, the secret behind Tyson’s improved physique at the time came as an even bigger shock to some fans after he revealed that he had traded his vegan lifestyle for an unusual meat diet.

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“I stopped [a vegan diet] because of the training and because of what I wanted my body to look like and the strength that I wanted to pose," Tyson said on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast in 2020. “I only eat elk and bison – wild stuff – and I’m starting to feel fit.

“I realised the stuff that’s good for other people – like kale, vegetables and blueberries – for me is really poisonous… Kale will kill me!"

Tyson became vegan after reportedly tipping the scales at 27 stone (378lbs) after hanging up his gloves and weighed in at 15 stone (220lbs) for his match with Jones. Adding meat back into his diet allowed Tyson to move closer to the 3,000 and 4,000 calories-per-day cycle that the boxing icon used during his heyday.

While issues with his diet forced Tyson to reschedule his fight against Paul earlier this year, the 58-year-old seemingly found a perfect balance ahead of his exhibition with Jones in 2020. Tyson’s elk and bison diet was complemented by two hours of daily cardio, sparring rounds, various strength exercises, and bag and pad work.

It was a sudden change for Tyson as, a year earlier, he had told GQ Sports about the principles behind his plant-based lifestyle. “I don’t eat anything that has a mother and father,” Tyson said. “If you were created through a mother and father, through any kind of intercourse, I won’t eat you. So that means I only eat vegetables and stuff.”

The former undisputed champion is going through the last stages of training camp ahead of his fight against Paul. As many as 90,000 spectators could be in attendance at the AT&T Stadium for the bout, which will be broadcast live on Netflix.