“Who else can do it but me?” Mike Tyson is confident he can beat Jake Paul at nearly sixty years old.
By: Sean Crose
Barring further disruptions, the highly publicized bout between former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and social media star-turned-professional boxer Jake Paul will take place on November 15 at AT&T Stadium in Texas. The fight could draw a sellout crowd of nearly 100,000 and is also likely to be a major pay-per-view event, where the appetite for novel fights like this can make a big buck for a promotion. Tyson-Paul will take place nearly 38 years after Tyson won his first heavyweight title in a two-round domination of Trevor Berbick in 1986. Shocking.
The truth is that Tyson-Paul was supposed to take place this summer, but an inflamed ulcer forced Tyson’s team to postpone the fight. Indeed, there was reason to believe that the fight might not even happen. Now, however, it seems that everything is working properly – at least for now. “I had a little setback. I was sick, but I feel good,” Tyson said at a press conference over the weekend to officially announce the Paul fight. “As soon as I get this guy, it’s all over, he’s going to run. He’s going to run like a thief.”
Tyson may be right, but his old legs will age very quickly if he doesn’t catch his opponent in the first few rounds. It’s not like the boxer once known as “Iron Mike” doesn’t have a chance of catching the much younger Paul early on. And if he does, Paul will find himself in incredibly serious danger. The last thing they talk about in a boxer is power – and Tyson’s power is legendary. It’s also worth remembering that – despite his respect for boxing – Paul is not a great talent.
The truth is, there are good reasons to dislike this fight. Tyson is closer to sixty than fifty. Put simply, that means the guy is too old to be in a boxing ring, even for a two-minute round fight like the one against Paul. The fight has already been postponed once due to health issues. There are warning signs. But it will take more than warning signs to stop this gravy train from pulling into the station. There is too much money at stake. There is more than a little arrogance involved. Surely, the boxing icon of yesteryear is confident of winning in November. “Who else can do it but me?” Tyson asked at the weekend press conference.
