Ahead of his massive professional boxing return next month against the polarizing, Jake Paul, ex-champion, Mike Tyson needed just 30 seconds to assess the influencer’s ability during a sparring session years ago, according to iconic trainer, Freddie Roach.
Tyson, a blistering knockout artist and former undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion, is slated to snap a retirement from professional boxing spanning back to 2006 next month, as he returns to the ring in a showdown with Ohio puncher, Paul — in a highly-scrutinized pairing in Arlington, Texas.
Most recently featuring in a WBC-scored exhibition outing against fellow former world champion superstar, Roy Jones Jr. back in 2020, Mike Tyson is preparing to snap a retirement in elderly age as he takes on Paul — stepping into the ring for the first time since his stoppage loss to Kevin McBride.
Freddie Roach shares story of Mike Tyson watching Jake Paul train
And sharing an insight into Mike Tyson’s initial thoughts on the boxing ability of Paul, the above-mentioned coaching maestro, Roach revealed how the New Yorker was less than interested after taking in just 30 seconds of a sparring session at his Wild Card gym, ahead of Paul’s 2022 fight with former UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva.
“(Mike) Tyson looked at him (Jake Paul) and left,” Freddie Roach told Fight Hype during a recent interview. “He saw 30 seconds of him sparring and said, ‘Freddie, can we go down and see the pictures?’ He knows that’s where the good pictures are. We wasn’t as interested as I was.”
And sharing his own thoughts on Paul’s boxing ability, Roach claimed the Ohio native was “okay” when it came to fighting in the squared circle.
“The kids (Jake Paul) okay, a club fighter,” Roach explained. “I don’t know him personally, and I’ve never really met him. He was in the gym and wondered if they could use the ring and I said, ‘Go ahead.’”
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