Tyson invited some of the promoters and boxers criticizing his November 15th match with Jake Paul to ‘tell me to my face.’
Mike Tyson continues to be extremely chill about his upcoming November 15th boxing match against Jake Paul, to the point where people are questioning whether the 58-year-old still has the killer instinct needed to beat his 27-year-old opponent.
On the latest episode of Logan Paul’s Impaulsive YouTube show, Tyson was asked if he’d be able to summon the wild mean Tyson from the 1980s.
“Here’s what I’ve learned from prior experience,” Tyson replied. “When that tough guy Tyson comes out when it’s not necessary for it to come out, I’m always in handcuffs. So I’m very careful when that guy comes out, because they break out the handcuffs. Every time I drink or get ready to fight I break out in handcuffs.”
“It’s unfortunate that I have to fight and be that guy. I wish I could stop that guy. That guy haunts me. I wish that guy died. But he’s here to stay … He wants to come back every second of my life, it’s so easy for him to come back. I just think of when I was younger and people bullied me.”
There’s been a lot of criticism about this fight given the 31 year age difference between opponents, but Tyson had a simple message for the haters.
“If you think I’m too old for this fight, you need to come tell me to my face,” he said.”
“This is all about jealousy,” he added. “They wish they could do it. They can’t. They can’t do it, they’re out there making up crazy bulls— but they wish so bad they were in our position. They wish so bad they could take care of their families the way we can. The way people yell our names. They’re world champions. No one knows their names.”
This is going to be a painful lesson for Mike Tyson. He likes to say he gave me my start in boxing. Well I’m going to give him his end. #PaulTyson pic.twitter.com/Co7ihh1GTr
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) August 18, 2024
“The s— talkers get all the money, the s— talkers get all the attention, the s— talkers get everything. We get a bad wrap, but we also get everything else.”
Tyson has had respect for the circus Jake Paul has built that brought a new generation of fans to boxing. That’s why he intially featured Paul on the undercard of his Roy Jones Jr. exhibition back in 2020. But he pointed to two other figures as the granddaddies of Influencer boxing.
“McGregor and Floyd, they started this,” Tyson declared, referencing the Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather boxing match in 2016 that sold over 4.3 million pay-per-views.
Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul goes down Friday November 15th on Netflix, and is free for anyone who has a subscription. Those in the neighborhood can check out the fight live at the 80,000 seat AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. We’ll keep you updated as more fights get added to the card.