MIKE TYSON has warned Hollywood actor Jamie Foxx that playing him in a new biopic ‘is not going to be pretty.’
Foxx confirmed over the summer that production for the film is well underway and he has bulked up massively to match Iron Mike’s physique.
The heavyweight legend has undergone his own stunning transformation from bloated former fighter to jacked athlete ahead of his highly anticipated comeback against Roy Jones Jr this weekend.
Some CGI will be used to help Foxx portray Tyson at various stages of his life and career.
But for the most part it will be the real thing, and Foxx has gone through a brutal training regime to replicate Tyson’s intimidating look.
Foxx will also have to capture Tyson’s remarkable career highs and lows in a life that has been marred with controversies.
Speaking on his role, Tyson backed 52-year-old Foxx to pull off an Oscar-winning performance but threw in a warning shot.
He told Charlie Mack: “He can do a great job I know that.
“I’m very grateful. I’m very excited about it. I’m gonna sit down and tell him the truth and he’s gonna have to learn to process that.
“It’s not going to be pretty.”
Foxx said his workout of 60 pull-ups, 60 dips and 100 press-ups had radically altered his top half but joked: “I ain’t got no legs, I ain’t got no calf muscles so we’re gonna have to get some prosthetics for that.”
He aims to weigh around 15st when filming starts, to reflect the shape of a young Tyson, before ‘ballooning’ to 16st to play an older version of the boxer.
Iron Mike announced himself to the world at the age of 20 when he became the youngest ever heavyweight champion.
He would later cement his reputation as one of the world’s greatest by becoming the undisputed champion.
His life has also been marred by controversy including biting off the ear of old foe Evander Holyfield.
Out of the ring he spiralled out of control with a history of drug and alcohol addiction and depression.
He also allegedly hit his first wife, with Robin Givens describing life with Tyson as ‘torture, pure hell, worse than anything I could possibly imagine’.
In 1992 he was convicted of the rape of then 18-year-old Desiree Washington and jailed for six years.
