Mike Tyson says fighting Jake Paul “would be really interesting.” The star sat down with Jimmy Kimmel on his late night show this week. Of course, the comedian had to float the idea of tapping gloves with the social media star. The former champion said, “Anything is possible, it’s got to happen this year.” There’s a lot of money to be made in mixing it up with Paul. However, fight fans should keep in mind, there’s a 35 year age gap between the two combatants. Even at this point in his life, Tyson would still be a formidable challenge for any boxer.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“I’ve never taken it very serious but that could be really interesting. He’s skilled enough yes, I’m going to give it to him, he’s skilled enough because he keeps winning,” Tyson told the host. “Even if he’s fighting guys you don’t believe are good enough fighters, they should be able to beat him, but they can’t. So he’s beating people who really he shouldn’t really be beating, we’ve got to give him that credit.”
Boxing fans who might skew a little younger have been wondering about the possibility of Tyson taking on Paul in recent years. Iron Mike actually didn’t shut the idea down on his Hotboxin podcast earlier this year. However, he did set his price at one billion dollars reportedly. But, in true Tyson fashion, the boxer told his guests that this was all news to him back then.
“I ain’t know nothing about it,” Tyson began. “Listen, I’ve been smoking with him forever, I did some shrooms with him as well. But I’ve never heard this. I was with him in St Barts not too long ago partying and he never told me this. I’ve never heard this from nobody, I’ve just heard this from you guys. We got to get some more man s—, blue-eyed, blonde hair, that s— is very expensive, we need to get some more money, man.”
Tyson vs. Paul was teased by The Sun for a late 2022 bout. But, as this conversation has proven, that will probably not materialize before the end of the year. The legendary boxer himself ended up putting a dampener on the bubbling chatter back in January. That’s not to say if the money was right that he would instantly turn it down.
“That is the fight for the money. Those are the money-making fights, those guys got 35 million people to watch,” Tyson laughed. “Yes. Hell, I would fight them. They would fight me. That would make a lot of money. Hundred million dollars, they do anything, they don’t mind getting beat up for a hundred million dollars.”
Do you think the fight will happen? Let us know down in the comments!