By: Sean Crose
While new-age boxing fans may be salivating over the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight scheduled for November 15, former world welterweight champion Shawn Porter doesn’t think the fight will be over. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” the former champion famously declared on Porter’s Way podcast, “We’re never going to see Mike Tyson get in the ring with Jake Paul… I’m not ordering it, I just don’t think Mike is going to get in the ring.” According to Porter, a Tyson-Paul fight was absurd from the start. “I just don’t see it happening,” he continued. “To me, it doesn’t make any sense, even from a business standpoint.”
Cleveland native Porter himself has had a stellar career, holding the IBF and WBC welterweight titles at various times. Porter has defeated the likes of Paulie Malignaggi, Andre Berto, Adrien Broner, Danny Garcia and Yordenis Ugas over the course of his twelve-year career. Some of Porter’s losses have come to the gloved punches of Terence Crawford, Keith Thurman, Errol Spence and Kell Brook – all big names. In short, Porter has earned the right to be heard in the fight game. He’s also a very good analyst, with insightful insights and bold opinions.
“I feel,” he said, “like Mike and Jake, even to the lowest common denominator, it doesn’t make sense.” Whether it makes sense or not, there are certainly those who agree with what Porter is saying here. Tyson, after all, will be nearly sixty this November. He won his first heavyweight title in 1968 – nearly forty years ago. What’s more, the scheduled fight with Paul was postponed due to an incident Tyson suffered on a plane involving an inflamed ulcer. There are certainly valid reasons why the man was ultimately denied the chance to step into the ring again.
But it’s amazing how much Tyson still shines after all these years in his prime. If “Iron Mike’s” crowning achievement was his first-round knockout of Michael Spinks in 1988, he’ll be fighting a full 36 years after his prime. It’s simply incredible. And dangerous. And scary. But there’s something undeniably appealing about an old lion stepping into the ring to fight a young buck, a role Paul is surely relishing. Paul may not be Hall of Fame worthy, but he’s determined, disciplined, constantly improving, and has some serious firepower. For a man in his fifties, Paul is certainly a dangerous figure.
