The controversial and high-profile bout between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul is just a matter of days away.
Whilst Tyson has been out of the ring professionally for almost two decades, YouTuber-turned-fighter Paul has been keeping active since his brash entry into the sport in 2020 on the undercard of ‘Iron’ Mike’s exhibition against Roy Jones Jr.
The 27-year-old has made a name for himself by facing mostly former UFC fighters, including Tyron Woodley, who gave his thoughts to Plejmo about the contest.
“It’s a great moment in combat sports. I predict it is going to be a more entertaining fight than people think. Mike has knockouts with every single punch he throws with either hand. He has knockouts with every punch. Jake doesn’t. But there’s an asterisk over Mike’s age, and what’s he been doing with his body before he decided to take this fight? Have you cracked a sweat? What have you been eating? How does your body feel when you work out? Because we all can look like a savage on a 20 second video for Instagram.”
Woodley, who went the eight round distance with Paul before being knocked out cold in their rematch described his shots as loaded with ‘dumpy power’ – though he says it won’t be anything new for Tyson.
“If we see Mike Tyson come out storming trying to smoke Jake, and if Jake stands there, it’s a good chance Jake is going to get his ass knocked out – Jake Paul’s dumb as hell, but he’s smart as f**k – he’s not going to sit there in the middle with Mike Tyson and let Mike get momentum and rhythm going. If Jake is jabbing and moving around and frustrating him, he potentially could gas out Mike Tyson. And if Mike Tyson is playing it cool and reserving himself, he may also run into the problem that Jake Paul may be more active.
“Jake has that dumpy power. And most times he doesn’t even look at his shots. He closes his eyes and swings. When he gets to the point where he’s actually looking at shots and punching while others are punching, his accuracy is going to go through the roof. But his power is nothing that Mike’s never seen before. Holyfield had power. Lennox Lewis had power. He had a lot of guys that had power that were bigger and better boxers. The thing that he’s going to be dealing with is the youth and the fact that Jake really don’t kind of give a fuck. He’s got a screw loose.”
Woodley calls the fight ‘a toss-up’ but says fans shouldn’t underestimate ‘bully’ Paul.
“Imagine a bully when you’re growing up. A bully is always picking on people. Until somebody tries to beat his ass and teach him a lesson. Jake Paul is the bully that just laughs through the lesson. When he took Floyd’s hat and his security – the f**king Space Jam looking gargoyle security – tried to rough him up in a corner, he’s just laughing and gets a tattoo. It’s hard to teach somebody a lesson that’s just laughing. Even when I was punching him, I knew it was hurting him. I knew that shit didn’t feel good because it hurt my fucking arm. People wonder why I didn’t keep on swinging. My damn arm was hurting.
“This fight is such a toss up. That’s what makes it interesting. That’s what makes it an even matchup. This is a win-win situation for Jake. We’re not going to trash Jake for losing to Mike. We’re not going to trash Jake for losing to me. We’re not going to trash Jake for losing to Nate Diaz or Anderson Silva. He’s in a win-win situation.”
