In his recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel, heavyweight boxing legend Mike Tyson expressed interest in fighting Jake Paul. The 55-year-old says “The Problem” Child is “skilled enough” to get his attention, while giving props to what Paul has done for the sport, so far.
“He’s skilled enough, yes,” Tyson said about Paul. “I’m gonna give it to him. He’s skilled enough because he’s winning. Even if he’s fighting guys that you guys don’t believe is a good enough fighter, they should be able to beat him, but they can’t.
“He’s beating people that he shouldn’t really be beating. We got to give him that credit.
“And he’s doing so much good for boxing. Listen, this guy got 70 million people following him every time he fights. Champions of the world don’t have that many people following them.
“So what he’s doing for boxing is just sensational. No one should be hating on that, he’s helping everyone get money. Why are people mad at him?”
Not long after, the 25-year-old Paul issued this response via Twitter.
Paul (5-0), who is coming off a highlight-reel KO win over former UFC champion Tyron Woodley, announced his return to the squared ring on August 13th. Other reports claim it will be held at Madison Square Garden, but no opponent has been named yet.
Paul’s response came because of Mike Tyson’s interest in seeing eye-to-eye with the controversial boxer, after all, both are characters who are not afraid to say and act the way they think, even though they don’t always receive the best feedback from critics.
With just over 20 million followers on YouTube, Paul was flattered by the former heavyweight champion’s deference to him.
“Even if he is fighting fighters that aren’t meant to be good enough, they should still be beating him but they can’t. He is beating people that he shouldn’t really be beating so you have to give him credit.
It’s really hard for Iron Mike to be good to someone he wants to fight, however, miracles happen all of a sudden and it may be related to the fact that Tyson knows what it’s like to be in the eye of the storm because in his career, both in and out of the ring he has been involved in controversies like biting Evander Holyfield’s ear or even being jailed.
“The champions of the world don’t have that many people following him so what he is doing for boxing is sensational,” Tyson said. “That could be really interesting. He’s skilled enough, I’m going to give it to him, he’s skilled enough because he keeps winning.”
Thank you to the great Mike Tyson for the respect and opportunity. This year we are making it happen. pic.twitter.com/dlGQUf2EP0
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) June 18, 2022