Mike Tyson remains extremely relaxed about his upcoming boxing match against Jake Paul on November 15. Some even wonder if the 58-year-old still has the killer instinct needed to defeat his 27-year-old opponent.
In the latest episode of Logan Paul’s YouTube show “Impaulsive,” Tyson was asked if he was able to conjure up the wild, evil Tyson from the 1980s.
“I learned that from past experience,” Tyson replied. “When that tough guy Tyson comes out, even though it’s not necessary, I’m always in handcuffs. So I’m very careful when that guy comes out because that’s when they break the handcuffs. Every time I drink or get ready to fight, the handcuffs break.”
“It’s unfortunate that I have to fight and be that guy. I wish I could stop that guy. That guy is stalking me. I wish that guy would die. 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 about when I was younger and people would bully me.”
Given the 31-year age difference between the opponents, there was a lot of criticism surrounding this fight, but Tyson had a simple message for the critics.
“If you think I’m too old for this fight, you have to tell me to my face,” he said.
“It’s all about jealousy,” he added. “They wish they could do it. They can’t. They can’t do it, they think up crazy nonsense – but they wish so much they were in our position. They wish so much they could take care of their families like we do. The way people scream our names. They are world champions. Nobody knows their names.”
“The s–talkers get all the money, the s–talkers get all the attention, the s–talkers get everything. We get a bad reputation, but we get everything else too.”
Tyson respected the circus Jake Paul built that brought a new generation of fans to boxing, which is why he first featured Paul on the undercard of his Roy Jones Jr. fight in 2020. But he called two other figures the forefathers of influencer boxing.
“McGregor and Floyd, they started it,” Tyson explained, referring to the 2016 Conor McGregor-Floyd Mayweather boxing match, which sold over 4.3 million pay-per-view tickets.
Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul hits Netflix on Friday, November 15th and is free for all subscribers. Those nearby can watch the fight live from the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. We’ll keep you updated as more fights are added to the card.
