In the not too distant past, one would never have expected to read the words “Mike Tyson” and “Jake Paul” in the same sentence. Today, however, the legendary heavyweight boxer and YouTuber may well be ironing out their differences in the boxing ring. Tyson, appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live, was surprisingly open to the idea of fighting Paul. “That could be very interesting.
I never really took it serious, but yeah, that could be really interesting. He’s skilled enough, yes. I’m [going] to give it to him, he’s skilled enough because he’s winning. Even if he’s fighting guys that you don’t believe are good enough fighters, they should be able to beat him but they can’t.
Mike Tyson Open to Fighting Jake Paul “This Year”
He is beating people that he shouldn’t really be beating so you got to give him that credit. He’s beating people he really should not be beating. He is doing good for a guy that just doing it and he is doing so much good for boxing.
Listen, this guy has seven million people following him every time he fights. The champions of the world don’t have that many people following them so what he is doing for boxing is just sensational.
No one should be hating on that, let’s just fight ‘em. He’s helping everybody get money. Why are people mad at him?”
Mike Tyson, at 55, retired long ago after a stellar career. Tyson, at his peak, was one of the most dangerous fighters on the planet, endowed with rare power and aggression and striking agility for a man of his stature. Tyson earned a fearsome reputation for early knockouts, and was one of American boxing’s last true superstars.
He emerged from retirement to take on Roy Jones, Jr, in an exhibition match, which saw Jake Paul take on NBA player Nate Robinson, with Paul knocking out the basketballer within two minutes of the second round. Paul has since gone on to knock out former UFC fighters Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley.
If Mike Tyson fights Jake Paul, it will mark Paul’s first encounter with an actual professional boxer in his weight class, albeit one who has been retired for almost twenty years.
Of the potential matchup, Tyson said: “Anything is possible, yes. But it has got to happen this year. It has got to happen this year.”
In response, Jake Paul Tweeted Mike Tyson: “Thank you to the great Mike Tyson for the respect and opportunity. This year we are making it happen.” Do you want to see Tyson vs Paul? Let us know in the comments.
