Jake Paul is not in for as easy a night as many experts and fans are predicting when he faces Mike Tyson this summer.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer has become one of the most divisive figures in the sport in recent years, but has drawn particular ire for facing 58-year-old Tyson on July 20. Paul will move up a weight division in order to make the heavyweight bout happen, but is still a sizeable favourite due to age and activity.
Tyson hasn’t fought since a 2020 exhibition bout with Roy Jones Jr, and prior to that last had a fully professional bout in 2005 when he was stopped by Kevin McBride. But one legendary former opponent of his has seen him training and is confident of a shock result.
Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson confirmed as fully professional fight
Last week it was confirmed that Paul and Tyson will be adding to their professional records when they compete on July 20 at the AT&T Stadium in Texas. They will fight under slightly altered rules, wearing 14oz gloves and competing in eight rounds of two minutes.
While Tyson has remained tight-lipped about what fans can expect, he did tell 10X Studios host Grant Cordone that he “will be successful”. But Paul has been much more brash, guaranteeing that he will put down the former heavyweight champion.
“I think it’s a win-win,” he said on his podcast BS w/ Jake Paul. “They could hate me, they could love me. If I put my happiness to be dependent on an audience, then it’s a co-dependent relationship and co-dependent relationships aren’t good.
“If I’m relying on an audience to like me for my satisfaction then I will never be happy unless they like me, so that means I’ll do things to make them like me.”
Lennox Lewis details Mike Tyson training ahead of Jake Paul fight
One man who is confident of a Tyson win is his former rival Lennox Lewis. The pair fought in 2002 amid one of the sport’s most heated rivalries, and are still not particularly close as a result of the intense feud and fight.
But speaking to The Schmo last weekend in Las Vegas, Lewis detailed how he had watched Tyson training in the lead-up to the Paul fight. “I seen him working out the other day,” the former undisputed champion said.
“He throws some good combinations so those six-punch combinations, Jake Paul has to make sure that he’s not in the way of those punches because Tyson is a real fighter. Tyson can throw a punch and he can take a punch, so he’s doing something that he’s used to.”