Mike Tyson explains how risk is part of his motivation for fighting Jake Paul

He is 58 years old and claims he doesn't need money, so why is Mike Tyson going ahead with his fight against 27-year-old Jake Paul?

“I could wait for a cannabis check every day,” Tyson said, referring to his cannabis company Tyson 2.0. “That's nonsense to me. I'm a man. … I want to go out there and take risks. …

“Sometimes I want to see who I really am. I want to see what I'm really made of.”

Tyson, who has been sidelined for weeks with a stomach ulcer, made the comments Friday night at a mixed martial arts event in New York, Cage Wars 67. He had previously been less clear about his motivation for the fight against Paul, which is scheduled to take place on November 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

“I want to perform in front of the whole world,” Tyson said. “For me, this is all I've known since I was 14.”

On Friday night, he expressed his enthusiasm for the fights while sitting ringside with his son, Amir, at the Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady, New York, about 180 miles from Brooklyn, where he grew up, and about 50 miles from where he became a heavyweight champion of the world under the tutelage of the late Cus D'Amato.

But Cage Wars' two regular commentators kept steering the conversation back to Tyson and his fight with Paul, which is set to be live-streamed by Netflix. Paul recently said he would make $40 million from the fight, but Tyson downplayed the financial incentive.

“This fight is not going to change my life enough financially,” Tyson said. “That's exactly what I want to do.”

Regarding the stomach ulcer outbreak that led to the fight being postponed, Tyson said he no longer has stomach ulcers and his “blood count is almost back.”

According to his agent Andrew Ruf, Tyson resumed training in July.

Mike Tyson says it is “hard to leave”

Two months before the fight, Tyson said he had recently fought six rounds. He said he would increase his number to ten rounds as he prepares for a fight scheduled for eight rounds of two minutes each.

“The fight is won in the gym,” Tyson said.

However, he acknowledged that training at 58 is a different experience than, say, at 20 – when he became the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history. Things are “a little shaky now,” Tyson said.

“It's hard to walk at the moment,” he said. “But in two months I'll be perfect again.”

Tyson uses electrical stimulation and stem cells to recover.

“Look, I’ll do whatever I can,” he said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why is Mike Tyson fighting Jake Paul? Boxing legend explains motivation