Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson – Who wins the oddest contest in boxing?
On Friday, November 15, YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul (10-1, 7KO) will fight a man 31-years his senior in former undisputed world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson (50-6, 44KO).
This peculiar pair will meet at the AT&T Stadium in Texas, over eight 2-minute rounds at heavyweight, live on Netflix.
58-year-old veteran fighter “Iron” Mike Tyson first became a world champion in 1986, 11 years before Jake Paul was even born.
By the time Jake was born in January 1997, Tyson had already had 47 fights, winning 45 and losing two – to Buster Douglas and Evander Holyfield.
After losing three from his last four fights, Tyson decided to retire in 2005, when Jake was just eight-years-old.
Now, 19-years later, this pair, with a 31-year age difference, have somehow been licensed to fight each other.
The duration of the rounds have been reduced and the size of the gloves increased, as safety precautions.
Many fans could be getting carried with the social media clips on “Iron Mike” looking powerful and explosive, and the promises he is making to knock Paul out.
In the New Yorker’s last fight with Irishman Kevin McBride, 19-years-ago, in 2005, his timing and accuracy was way off. He kept landing low blows and missing head shots due to his advanced age, which was just weeks before his 39th birthday.
Then, he slowed down dramatically in round five due to exhaustion, and was floored in the sixth stanza, which is when he decided to retire on his stool.
He hung up his gloves when he realised that he was losing to opponents who wouldn’t have been able to lace his boots at one stage. But now he is heading back to the ring almost two decades on from that acknowledgement.
He did have an exhibition bout in 2020, billed as “Lockdown Knockdown”, against four-weight world champion and fellow boxing legend, Roy Jones Jr.
Tyson fought in his typical style, bobbing and weaving, leaping forwards into big hooks, but anything he landed on RJJ, he just absorbed.
As the fight was fought behind closed doors, the breathlessness and sounds of fatigue was very audible in that empty arena. The huffing and puffing could be heard from as early as round two. However, Tyson appeared to be fitter than Jones, but the bout was declared a draw.
Paul will be far busier than Jones was, which means Tyson needs to expect this contest to be fought at a much higher pace.
Paul, at 27, is not only going to be fitter, but has a significant height, size and reach advantage too, at 6’1″ and 76″, compared to 5’10” Tyson’s 71″ reach.
When the YouTuber first turned pro nearly five years ago, he was raw, jittery, stiff, off-balance and out of position, yet he still managed to win his pro box within the first round.
He has made a career from fighting non-boxers, such as ageing MMA fighters. When he first stepped up to fight a pro boxer, he chose Tommy Fury, who isn’t even an English title-level boxer. When you think of recent British champions around his weight, such as Joshua Buatsi and Dan Azeez, you can easily tell how far away Tommy is from that kind of class.
He lost that first fight to a legitimate boxer on points. He has since fought two more pro boxers and won in the opening round both times. However, their quality was also questionable, despite their winning records.
In his last fight to bareknuckle champion, Michael Perry, Paul actually looked pretty good. He was able to handle a lot of heat and pressure from Perry, whilst dropping him in three of the rounds before the sixth-round stoppage.
However, the BKFC scene is known for its lesser quality, which has seen journeyman boxers transition over to and gain a lot of success, where there able to compete in a more even playing field than pro boxing.
Betting Odds
8/15 Jake Paul
2/1 Mike Tyson
12/1 Draw
Prediction
Mike Tyson is a boxing legend, the youngest world heavyweight champion in history, but that was then and this is now.
The 2-minute rounds were set in place for safety reasons – due to Tyson’s advanced age. However, I believe this will work in Paul’s advantage because he can make those 120-seconds at a very high-paced, which a fit 27-year-old in his prime will be able to handle comfortably, but an ageing 58-year-old will struggle with.
The 14oz gloves will reduce Tyson’s chance to score a knockout, which, again, works in Paul’s favour.
Paul has steadily improved since his pro debut in 2020, and he has become a competent boxer with power in his right hand – four first-round knockouts is proof of this, regardless of what you think of him.
He has a size, height and reach advantage over Tyson, so if he uses these strengths, such as his 76″ reach to Tyson’s 71″, then he could work on the outside, flicking out that low-hanging jab, then tying Tyson up when he closes the gap and leaps into those left and right hooks. In those clinches, if Paul is clever enough, he could lean on Tyson to sap his strength and stamina.
I hate to say it, but I believe that Paul will by quicker and busier than Tyson, far more energetic and sharper, and will either win on points or force the Hall of Famer to retire through exhaustion.
