Outspoken ex-UFC winner Oleg Taktarov has been derided for challenging former heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson to a fight and told that the only way he could compete with the returning boxer would be in a drinking contest.
Colorful former combatant Taktarov, who is a year younger than his would-be opponent at 52, wore sunglasses indoors to challenge Tyson to a fight on Instagram last week, cutting to a clip of him thumping a punchbag in a gym.
Tyson looked considerably faster and more aggressive when he posted a reel of his comeback training on Monday, chasing new trainer Rafael Cordeiro on the pads as he continued his preparations for a mooted ring return that has been the subject of multi-million offers.
Former Bellator champion Alexander Shlemenko laughed off Taktarov’s hopes as “ridiculous,” explaining that he had been unimpressed by his fellow Russian’s conditioning when he had seen him on a mountain trek with UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father, Abdulmanap, back in 2018.
#Hello! #namaste ! Can anybody tell me where is this @miketyson ? I wanna fight him any time any where! Money or no ? ? #singam drink only #mate !
“What is he talking about. I don’t understand,” Shlemenko said when talking to Sport24.
“He can only arrange a drinking competition with beer cans. He loves that. I do not want to say anything about Taktarov but I’ve seen his form.
When he came to Dagestan, Khabib’s father was there. I saw how Oleg moves.”
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“It seems to me that this is just another hype that he wants to catch. But it sounds stupid. It is unlikely that anyone will react at all.
With the state that Oleg is now in… he won’t even be able to approach Tyson.”
This is not the first time that former middleweight title holder Shlemenko has made an alcohol-related jibe against Taktarov.
Two years ago, he criticized Taktarov, who he had considered a hero during his youth, for advertising strong beer.
“I consider people like him to be traitors of their own people,” said a scornful Shlemenko in a video clip, telling his fans to “stay sober.”
“I think it’s important to consider what he is doing right now. They are trying to say, ‘drink strong beer, get addicted to it and you’ll become strong guys.’”
Taktarov responded by promising Shlemenko he would “break his legs from any position,” taking to social media with the same confrontational style with which he disparaged Khabib’s credentials as a champion and his father’s training last month.
Fans responded to his announcement to Tyson by predicting he would be easily beaten by the powerhouse once known as ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’.
“Bad idea,” said one, while another wrote: “I think Tyson will destroy you in the first round.”
