Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul is almost upon us, and the takes are starting to fly.
On Nov. 15, Tyson and Paul face off in an eight-round boxing match broadcast live on Netflix that figures to be one of the biggest combat sports events of the year. The fight was originally supposed to take place in July until the 58-year-old Tyson suffered a medical issue, delaying the event.
The incident led many to question whether this fight should even take place given the 30 year age difference between Paul and Tyson, but for at least one combat luminary, that age gap is the thing that makes the fight interesting.
Speaking with TMZ Sports over the weekend, Paul’s former opponent Tyron Woodley said he believes the bout is actually close, because of Tyson’s advanced age.
“It’s a very even fight, to be honest,” Woodley said. “It’s even because of the age of Mike Tyson. I think it’s an even fight because of the age of Mike Tyson. He’s completely, obviously, out of his prime. In his prime most of his fights were almost attempted murder, so literally Jake wouldn’t have stood a chance. Nobody would even commission or sanction a fight between him and Mike Tyson.”
While Tyson certainly was one of the most feared fighters on the planet in his prime, that was almost 35 years ago. Tyson has no competed professionally since 2005 and was last seen in the ring four years ago for an exhibition bout against Roy Jones Jr.
Meanwhile, Paul has had 10 professional boxing bouts in the at time, winning six of them by knockout, including a devastating finish of Tyron Woodley in their rematch in 2021. Most recently, Paul stopped BKFC star Mike Perry back in July. That was just the latest instance of what Woodley says is Paul choosing his opponents wisely.
“Jake’s always on a win-win situation,” Woodley said. “He’s fighting guys that if he loses, ‘He lost to this guy. You lost to Tyron, you lost to Anderson Silva, you lost to [Nate] Diaz.’ So he’s always in a position where if he wins he goes up, if he loses it’s like, OK, he took a risk, he took a chance.”
Paul does not appear to be taking much of a chance this time around as he’s currently a considerable betting favorite over Tyson. Still, as the old adage goes, anything can happen in the ring and so come fight night, Woodley intends to be ringside to find out exactly what happens.
“I like the fight. I’ll be at the fight,” Woodley said. “I was originally fighting on the card. We couldn’t find a formidable opponent that made sense. So now it’s just to support the event and be a part of a big event in combat sports.”
Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul takes place on Nov. 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
