Mike Tyson concern raised by Russell Crowe ahead of Jake Paul fight - 'What bothers me'

At the peak of his powers, Tyson was formidable - with the boxing icon establishing himself as one of the best fighters the sport has ever seen.

Given he is 58, however, many are unsure what version of the American will turn up later in the year.

Crowe, speaking on the Joe Rogan podcast, has admitted he's 'bothered' by the fight.

He's concerned that Tyson will have to become a 'warrior' again, insisting he feels the boxing icon 'didn't need to do it'.

"The thing is, I was quite enjoying the second phase of Mike’s life,” said the Hollywood star. "I was terrified of him as a boxer. He was terrifying.

"Even when I met him backstage at a stadium one time at a fight, I was like ‘I’m still terrified of you’.

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“Then that guy he started becoming where he became more explorative and he was looking into what the meaning of life is and having a smoke every now and then? I was like, ‘I’m enjoying this Mike, I’m liking the evolution’.

“What bothers me with this whole thing is that he’s got to kind of slide back into that warrior and I’m just not sure that he needed to do it.”

As for Rogan, the 57-year-old also admitted he was worried about the fight.

He insists Tyson is capable of stunning Paul - but also fears he'll struggle to wind back the clock later in the year.

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“58 is 58, no matter what you’re taking and what they’re doing for you," he said.

“You’re still 58. But, 58-year-old Mike Tyson is not 50-year-old Mike Jones that lives down the street, it’s a different kind of human being.

“He can still knock your head into another dimension if he can catch you.

"The thing is, can he catch a 28-year-old [Paul is 27] guy who’s at the top of his career who is winning legitimate boxing matches? I mean, he’s beating former UFC world champions like Tyron Woodley.

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“Jake had that very good fight with Tommy Fury who’s a legitimate boxer, that was a very good fight.

"And he just beat up Mike Perry who was a bare knuckle champion, he’s a real fighter, he can fight and if Mike Tyson and him are fighting and Mike can’t catch him? Then it’s hard to tell.

“When Mike is hitting pads he looks great, but it’s hard to tell when someone is hitting pads. If he can do that for eight rounds, great.

"But can he do that? I don’t know, he had to pull out of the first fight because he had an ulcer.”

Tyson insists he's capable of beating Paul and 'feeling great' after an ulcer flare up earlier this year.

But whether he can rock his rival on November 15 remains to be seen.