Maynard James Keenan is helping Mike Tyson get in shape for his upcoming boxing match against Jake Paul. That’s right, the Tool singer and his colleagues at his Verde Valley BJJ martial arts school have been training Iron Mike in advance of the July 20th bout.
Earlier this month, it was announced that Tyson will take on YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with the fight being streamed live on Netflix. Now, Keenan has revealed that Tyson began his training program at the singer’s martial arts center in Cottonwood, Arizona.
The rock vocalist posted a photo of himself and his wife, Lei Li Keenan, alongside Tyson on Instagram (see below), with the caption, “Honored to have @miketyson grace our small town academy, @verdevalleybjj. His Training Camp for @jakepaul vs @miketyson began under our roof. Gonna be bragging about that for a bit. Long after y’all are tired of hearing about it. Deal w it.”
Tyson is in good hands, as Keenan has been training for decades in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and earned a black belt a couple months ago.
Keenan’s training sessions with Tyson come in the midst of a very busy touring schedule. He recently wrapped up a winter US run with Tool, but will head out on the “Sessanta Tour” beginning April 2nd in Boston. The monthlong US outing will see MJK’s bands A Perfect Circle and Puscifer celebrating the singer’s upcoming 60th birthday along with Primus. The shows will feature individual sets, as well as collaborative performances, with tickets available here.
Get A Perfect Circle Tickets Here
After that, Tool will embark on a UK/European tour from late May through late June. Tickets for those shows can be purchased here.
For now, it appears that Keenan will be off the road on July 20th, meaning he could attend the Tyson-Paul fight. We imagine he’ll get an invite from the boxer’s camp.
See Maynard James Keenan’s post about training Mike Tyson below, followed by our photo gallery of Tool’s January show at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Photo Gallery: Tool and Elder play Madison Square Garden in New York City (click to expand and scroll through):