The event is set to take place next month
Mike Tyson is set to take on a Great White shark for the Discovery Channel’s annual Shark Week next month.
The heavyweight will go head-to-head with the sea creature in what is being dubbed Tyson v Jaws: Rumble on the Reef on Sunday, August 9.
Shark Week, which has been running since 1988, is a week of programming dedicated to sharks, with a celebrity presenter.
Tyson’s face-off was teased as the “ultimate showdown” in a comical new clip, as he tries desperately to blow up an inflatable boat.
Who you got in @MikeTyson vs. Jaws?
The heavyweight champ joins #SharkWeek August 9 on @Discovery. pic.twitter.com/Ffq6IkRlY9
— Shark Week (@SharkWeek) July 15, 2020
“I took on this challenger to overcome fears I still deal with in life,” Tyson said in a statement. “I equate this with overcoming my fear of getting back into the ring at 54 years old.”
“I learned from this experience doing Shark Week that whatever intimidates me, I am still able to step up to the challenge of overcoming anything that would prevent me from accomplishing my life’s mission of reaching my highest potential in life and bringing me closer to God.”
Meanwhile, Jamie Foxx is set to play Tyson in an upcoming biopic, which has been a number of years in the making.
The Oscar-winner recently reassured fans that the film on the former heavyweight boxer was still on the way.
“It’s a definitive yes,” he confirmed on an Instagram Live with Hollywood producer Mark Birnbaum. “Doing biographies is a tough thing. Sometimes it takes 20 years to get them done, but we officially got the real ball rolling.”
He further explained: “We want to show everybody evolves. I think when we lay the layer of Mike Tyson in this story, I think everybody from young and old will be able to understand this man’s journey.”
Foxx also spoke of the physical preparations, saying: “Every other day, I do 60 pull-ups, we do 60 dips, we do 100 push-ups. I ain’t got no calf muscles, so we might have to get some prosthetics for that.”
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