Mike Tyson will come out of retirement to box Jake Paul on July 20th at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, streaming globally on Netflix.
It was announced last week that the incredibly surprising fight has been sanctioned as a fully professional bout, with the result going on each fighter’s professional record.
Mike Tyson‘s last professional boxing bout was back in 2005, when he lost to Irishman, Kevin McBride. After losing three of his last four professional fights, ‘Iron Mike’ decided to hang the gloves up.
Despite that, in 2020, he came out of boxing retirement to face former opponent Roy Jones Jr in an exhibition match. Jake Paul also competed on the event, knocking out Nate Robinson in his second professional bout.
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Randy Couture warns Jake Paul is ‘in trouble’ ahead of huge fight
Former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight world champion, Randy Couture, admitted that the fight between Paul and Tyson is an indication of the recent state of boxing.
“This is an indication of what’s been going on in boxing for a little while now, these trillers and crossover matches. Jake and Logan (Paul) have instigated a bunch of this stuff and I don’t think Mike likes it all that much for pure boxing.” Couture told MiddleEasy.
‘The Natural’ stated that he thinks Jake Paul could be ‘in trouble’, highlighting Mike Tyson’s recent training videos as the reason why he thinks the former heavyweight king will pull off the upset.
“Look at the training footage, that pop, and explosive speed and power are still there. He’s still got it in my opinion and that bodes well for going out and this probably ending in within the first or second round.” Couture predicted.
The 60-year-old former UFC champion went on to admit that he believes the only way Jake Paul could win the fight, is if it’s fixed. Fans have previously claimed that fights against Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren were ‘fixed’, but there, of course, was no evidence to back up farfetched claims.
“I like that Jake has backed (up previous talk), I think he’s in trouble with this one unless the fix is in, which I don’t even want to say that because I don’t think Mike would do that. I see Mike going out there and tearing him up in probably under two rounds.”
Randy Couture thanks Jake Paul for speaking out on UFC fighter pay
Couture, who now works more closely with the PFL, also thanked ‘The Problem Child’ for shining a light on the problem of fighter pay in the UFC.
Paul has historically feuded with UFC CEO, Dana White, regarding the subject of fighter pay, with the majority of his previous opponents being former UFC fighters who are chasing a big payday.
“I commend Jake for continuing to poke Dana White and the powers that be about fighter pay and all the other things that need to change in our sport. All those guys who made those crossover matches from MMA made more money in those single boxing matches than they ever made in MMA.
“That’s an issue, and thanks to Jake Paul for pointing that out, because we’ve certainly been trying for years to highlight that, and Jake has the platform to use that megaphone to spread that word loud and clear.” Couture finished.
