Evander Holyfield knows better than most what it is like to fight Mike Tyson but has also seen Jake Paul up close after the 27-year-old visited his gym.
Holyfield and Tyson shared one of the most infamous fights in modern boxing history. Their first encounter took place in 1996 and was Tyson’s first defence of the WBA title, which Holyfield won by knockout in the 11th round. The second time round Tyson bit off a part of Holyfield’s ear out of frustration at being head-butted and was disqualified from the contest.
Tyson went on fighting until back-to-back losses in 2005 but is making a comeback in November against YouTuber turned professional fighter Paul, who is less than half his age.
Speaking to Fight Hub TV, Holyfield revealed that Paul had come to his gym a few years ago and ‘The Real Deal’ was impressed with the cruiserweight’s boxing ability.
“He [Jake Paul] came to the gym. He acted as a good student.
When I talked to my man at the gym I realised he can really fight. He can really fight. Sometimes people tend to think if you ain’t start at a certain age you’re just there to have fun. OK, well you get in there with him then! He got a good foundation in the game of boxing.”
As for the fight, in a seperate interview with Fight Hub TV Holyfield revealed from experience how Paul must fight, also saying that it comes down to his ability to take a shot.
“I don’t know how much confidence that Jake Paul has and all of that, but he’s gonna be a lot quicker. If he stays close to Mike then his chance of winning is gonna be great, but if he tries to stay back from Mike he’s gonna get caught.”
“The point about it is does Jake Paul take a good shot? I never seen him get hit by nobody. That’s it … It may be over cause he ain’t probably never fought nobody that punch like Mike.
You never know, just like Mike quit in the ring. He got tired and just quit and just sat down – ‘I’m done.’”
Paul versus Tyson takes place at the AT&T arena in Texas on November 15 and will be streamed live on Neftlix. However the first fight ends, Tyson has hinted there may well be a rematch.
