Mike Tyson and Jake Paul are set to face off on November 15 in Arlington, Texas.
The plans have received considerable backlash from the boxing community due to the 30 year age gap between the two, plus the fact Tyson hasn’t competed professionally since 2005.
Speaking to Fight Hub TV before the initial date was postponed due to medial issues on ‘Iron’ Mike’s part, former two-weight world champion Andre Ward weighed up the pros and cons of the fight.
“That’s a spectacle. I’m gonna watch it. I don’t know – I see people on both sides. ‘Mike shouldn’t be in there’ and it’s like maybe not but if there’s a 58-year-old that I’m not too concerned about it’s probably Mike Tyson. It is risky. I had a writer text me another day telling me how risky it was and I’m like well Mike’s life is risky. He’s been risky from since he been a kid until now. Boxing is risky. How you gonna tell a man who’s hard-wired like Mike Tyson that he shouldn’t get a fight like that? It’s gonna produce tens of millions of dollars … You can’t tell him he ain’t got a shot in that fight.
I don’t really know where I stand on it. I’m gonna watch it. Jake and his team are very strategic. They’re picking the right names and they get bigger and bigger. I don’t really have a hard take on it, I’m gonna watch it for better or for worse.”
In a seperate interview with The Spit Bucket Podcast, Ward said that it was ‘a cool fight’ but that Tyson’s body now ‘won’t respond the same to the punches’ he absorbed in his professional campaign.
Ward has previously said he ‘doesn’t hate on crossover boxing’ and praised Paul and his brother Logan for having a lot of heart. He also stated that, in the right situation, he would return to face one of them, keeping himself in shape for a seven or eight week turnaround if the opportunity should arise.
Tyson has dismissed any criticism and is confident of beating Paul, who has a record of ten wins and one loss in the sport mostly against retired MMA fighters.
