Daniel Cormier thinks PEDs could be a factor in Mike Tyson’s upcoming clash with Jake Paul.
On Friday, November 15, Paul vs. Tyson will go down inside the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Airing live on Netflix at no extra charge for active subscribers, the event is expected to bring in record-breaking numbers despite being one of the most maligned matchups in recent memory.
Much of the criticism surrounding the fight revolves around the 31-year age gap between the combatants. However, former UFC two-division champion Daniel Cormier expressed another courtesy during a recent episode of his Funky & The Champ podcast with Ben Askren.
Cormier wary of potential PED use in Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight
Looking back at Paul’s sixth-round TKO against BKFC brawler ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry in July, Cormier suggested that ‘The Problem Child’ may have had a little something extra in his system that allowed him to dig deep and come out on top.
“As the fight went longer, Jake Paul draws on this reserve, finishes Mike Perry. Many believe that in that reserve is a few banned things but at the end of the day, it allows for Jake to draw from that and put himself on the path to get a victory.
“That is my concern, because what if this thing looks like a 58-year-old man fighting a 28-year-old man when Mike can’t draw from that reserve tank to stay and compete with this young kid” (h/t MMA News).
Jake Paul has routinely defended himself against accusations of PED use, though speculation has once again picked up as a recent photo of him appeared to show the YouTube star showing a few hallmarks of steroid abuse.
Paul goes into the bout with a 10-1 record in his pro boxing career, including seven wins by way of knockout. His lone loss came in February 2023 when he wound up on the wrong side of a split decision against Tommy Fury.
As for Tyson, the ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’ closed out his career on June 11, 2005, following a sixth-round loss to Kevin McBride. ‘Iron’ went 50-6 inside the squared circle with 44 KO/TKOs.
In 2020, he returned to the ring for an exhibition bout against Roy Jones Jr. but the fight with Paul will be his first professional boxing match in two decades.
