MIKE TYSON has vowed to “SLAUGHTER” Jake Paul in their fight and dragged his own mother into the war of words.

The heavyweight great returns to the ring on November 15 for a controversial clash against YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul.

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It will be Tyson’s first professional fight in almost 20 YEARS – but he remains unfazed by the task at hand.

He told talkSPORT: “I see him running around, I have to catch him and slaughter him.

“No, [I don’t fear him] because he stepped into the ring. If my mother steps in the ring, she has a problem with me.

“Whoever’s in that ring, they have a problem. Don’t go in the ring if you don’t want that problem.”

Tyson’s mum Lorna actually passed away from cancer in 1982 when the boxing legend was just 16.

He was raised by his trainer and mentor Cus D’Amato and the coach’s wife Camille Ewald.

But D’Amato also died in 1985 just a year before Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion of all time aged only 20.

That kickstarted Iron Mike’s run as the Baddest Man on The Planet, which involved two title reigns.

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JAKE PAUL VS MIKE TYSON: ALL THE DETAILS YOU NEED AHEAD OF HUGE BOUT

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But he threw the towel in on his career in 2005 after quitting on his stool against Kevin McBride, who also works as a tree surgeon.

Tyson did return for a 2020 exhibition with American great Roy Jones Jr – but it was nothing but a glorified sparring session between two icons.

Now he will put his illustrious record on the line against 10-1 Paul – who only debuted in 2020.

It has been professionally sanctioned over eight two-minute rounds – opposed to the usual three – with bigger 14oz gloves to be worn.

Tyson will also have to undertake additional brain and heart tests due to his age after pulling out of the initial July 20 date due to a health precaution.

He suffered an ulcer flare-up in his stomach during a flight but was later passed medically fit to resume training.

And he talked down Paul’s chances of victory when probed on the controversial 30-YEAR age gap between them.

He said: “He’s a good little fighter, but he only has [11] fights. That’s considered an amateur in our field.”

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UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad disagrees with Shavkat Rakhmonov’s idea for an interim title fight while sidelined with an injury, but he can also see an upside.

Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) was set to defend his recently acquired title for the first time in the UFC 310 main event against undefeated contender Shavkat Rakhmonov. However, a toe infection forced the champ out of the Dec. 7 date at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

When the issue arose, Muhammad hoped to avoid a delay from action, but he says a doctor told him the infection was aggressive and needed immediate surgery. According to Muhammad, the doctor told him he caught the problem at the right time and, as a result, would be able to recover quickly.

While Muhammad is on the sideline, the UFC still needs to fill the void of a main event for UFC 310. Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) wants an interim title fight against another worthy challenger.

“I could see them trying to do something with Shavkat, but he’s calling for an interim title fight,” Muhammad said on “Remember the Show.” “It’s like, interim title fight? Bro, it’s six weeks, not six months that I’m off. But even for myself, if they wanted to do that just to make it a main event, I mean, I don’t really care about it if they want to make an interim title fight regardless, because they know who has the real belt. So for me, I know who my next opponent is going to be.”

While Muhammad can see the upside to having an interim title fight in his absence, he’s unsure if an opponent is available that makes sense. If Muhammad’s timeline for his return is accurate, he will be ready for a fight early in 2025, which would be Rakhmonov’s fight if he would be willing to wait a little longer.

Ian Machado Garry and Joaquin Buckley threw their names in the hat for the potential replacement fight. However, they have been booked to face each other in the main event of UFC on ESPN 63 in Tampa, Fla., on Dec. 14.

Former champ Kamaru Usman is available, but he and Rakhmonov share the same training room. Jack Della Maddalena is also hovering around the top of the division, but rumors are that he’s not healthy.

From a preparation standpoint, Muhammad can understand why Rakhmonov would want to keep the same date, even if he’s torn on the idea of an interim title fight.

“It really doesn’t (make sense), but it’s one of those where it’s like – when you’re in the middle of camp, it’s hard, because we were like six weeks left,” Muhammad said. “So I can understand him, he’s like, ‘Bro, I want to fight.’ That’s the only part: him and Usman are like training partners, and you guys been in the gym with each other right now. Were you guys looking at each other? Watching each other? It’s just weird.”

The promotion could also go outside the division for a main event switch up at UFC 310. UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev exchanged phone emojis on social media, essentially asking the UFC to make the fight happen.

“I wonder who they would do,” Muhammad said. “If it’s not Pereira and Ankalaev, I don’t see it being (Dricus) Du Plessis, I don’t see it being, I mean, (Zhang) Weili is always up there, but I don’t see them trying to throw that one in the mix. We’ll see what Hunter (Campbell) and Dana (White) do, right? They’re the best.”

Formula 1 teams have been left facing some difficult strategy choices for the Brazilian Grand Prix as a host of elements have come together to make things extremely complicated.

A combination of the new track surface, the timing of the sprint race, Pirelli’s selections for this weekend and uncertainty over the weather have created a perfect storm where the best route forward is not clear right now.

Of particular concern is the fact that teams cannot be sure which combination of tyres they need to keep back for Sunday’s grand prix, because the picture from the opening day of running has not offered a firm answer about degradation and wear levels.

The newly-resurfaced Interlagos circuit seems to offer some decent grip levels, but degradation levels were far from clear because of the huge fluctuations in track temperature caused by the new black asphalt.

Opening practice took place with the track nudging the mid-50Cs, and that opened the door for the tyres to be punished quite a lot, especially when the appearance of graining also contributed to some excessive wear.

As Williams driver Alex Albon said: “It’s unbelievable degradation here. This track is made out of sandpaper, so it will make it interesting.”

However, things seem more settled down in the late afternoon when sprint qualifying took place, as track temperatures dropped into the 40Cs.

But teams will be aware that Saturday’s sprint takes place at 11am local time on Saturday, when track temps will likely be in the upper region.

So, with Pirelli having selected the most aggressive of its tyre compounds for this weekend, and the soft being pretty much a single lap tyre so not suitable for the sprint duration, that will likely nudge teams to having to use a medium or hard on Saturday.

The difficulty with that though is that teams are very tight on the number of sets that they have left.

After sprint qualifying, all the top teams are in the same boat, in having two new hards available, then one new and two used mediums.

So, with indications pointing towards Sunday’s grand prix being a two-stop race, teams are going to have to choose where the compromise comes from and where they likely run a used medium.

It is not clear yet whether track temperatures and degradation will mean the best strategy on Sunday is to run medium/hard/medium (which was last year’s strategy based on the current tyres being one step softer), or medium/hard/hard.

Both strategies are currently viable and there is only a few seconds of difference between them on paper, although a double medium choice could require more management.

This means if teams burn through one of their new sets of tyres for the sprint, then they will have to run with used mediums in the race.

Pirelli tyres

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Normally, a used set of tyres – the mediums will have done a few laps in a qualifying effort during SQ1 or SQ2 is not such a problem – but it could trigger some downside this time around because Brazil’s race could be a battle against tyre wear rather than keeping temperatures under control.

And the level of wear appears to be much higher than it is in the past because the new track surface is triggering some graining.

Pirelli’s chief engineer Simone Berra said: “We expected this with the new tarmac, with the new surface.

“It’s something that is quite usual, especially on the rear right, but it is also the front right inner half of the tread. And this graining level is affecting the acceleration of the wear in some regions.”

Berra reckoned there was no perfect way forward right now, as at some point teams on Saturday or Sunday were going to have to go with something that was not ideal.

“They have to make the correct choice,” he said. “We know that we were a little bit on the limit in terms of wear life, considering the new asphalt and the new compound selection.

“So, I think it creates a little bit different strategies, because with the new tarmac, the C3 (the current hard) should work quite well, and should have better performance compared to last year, when it was the medium and some teams struggled with.

“The C4 (the current medium) last year was really good, and we’ve seen this year as well that the C4 is not too bad.

“So, teams have to decide if they prefer to keep the two sets of hard compound, but also to keep some good sets, so not much used, mediums just to switch from one strategy to the other.

“Then we know that on Sunday there is a chance of rain, and this can change also the compound selection for the race. You would rather prefer not to use the hard, for example, and use the medium [in the damp] because of the higher grip level in these kind of conditions.

“Everything is very viable at the moment, and I think it’s making the racing interesting.”

Former Grand Slam champions Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova said the WTA Finals moving to Saudi Arabia is a “step backward” for women’s tennis.

Critics of Saudi Arabia have accused the oil-rich kingdom of using its wealth to invest in sports in a bid to improve its image – known as ‘sportswashing’.

The country has heavily invested recently in golf, Formula 1, football and boxing.

The state has come under intense international scrutiny, with critics highlighting that women’s rights are still restricted and homosexuality is illegal.

The WTA Finals is the first major tour-level event held in Saudi.

WTA chief executive Portia Archer said the organisation is “comfortable” in its decision to host the event in Saudi Arabia.

“We often play in environments and in countries that have different customs, different cultures, and in some cases different value systems than I or the WTA may have,” she said.

“We take care to respect those local customs. We may not always agree with some of the policies in place in a particular country.”

All the players were asked at the tournament’s media day about competing in the country.

World number three Gauff said she had had some reservations.

“First, for the LGBTQ+ community, for me it’s always a community I’m going to fight for. I hear your concerns,” she said.

“I really do feel like, in order to ignite change, you have to start little by little. That’s how I’ve been taught growing up black in America, knowing our history.

“If we shied away from it then, where would we be now? The same message goes out there for women.

“Obviously I’m a woman. I was very concerned. My dad was very concerned with me coming here.”

Top-ranked Sabalenka said it was “important to bring tennis all around the world”.

“The effort they put into women’s sport here is incredible. I’m really impressed,” she said.

“I’m really happy to be here and to be part of, I would say, some sort of history here.”

EDMONTON, Alberta, Canada – Daniel Cormier didn’t mince words when asked about Rinat Fakhredinov’s recent comments toward the commentary team at UFC 308.

Fakhredinov (23-1-1 MMA, 5-0-1 UFC) won a controversial unanimous decision over Carlos Leal in their welterweight bout at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi. Cormier, who was on the commentary duty for the event, firmly disagreed with the decision.

“Really bad commentators,” Fakhredinov said during a post-fight news conference at UFC 308. “… First round was pretty close. It could’ve gone either way. I didn’t have any doubt the second or third round was mine. After your words, people will say again the Arabs bought the decision.”

During a Q&A session prior to the UFC Fight Night 246 ceremonial weigh-ins, Cormier was asked about Fakhredinov’s comments, and didn’t hold back his opinion.

“I don’t know what this dude was talking about,” Cormier said. “I’m serious. Listen bro, he lost. I don’t care how many times he complains – and that’s the thing. These fighters, they go and they fight. It was so clear that the guy lost the fight. He gets a microphone and he goes and sticks his foot in his mouth. That’s the problem. He’s a moron, and he just needs to recognize he lost.”

Every media member who submitted a scorecard to MMA Decisions scored the fight in favor of Leal (21-6 MMA, 0-1 UFC). In fact, most of them scored every round for Leal, who walked away with a loss in his promotional debut.

While the official result prevented Fakhretdinov from recording his first loss in the UFC, Cormier believes that he was “gifted” a win by the cageside judges, and should just quietly accept the result.

“Take it. Just take it,” Cormier said. “You got gifted a win. Take it. Just take it and keep your head tucked down until you fight somebody next time.”