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Jake Paul has a message for anyone who is criticizing Mike Tyson’s age going into their upcoming fight.
Appearing on FS1’s TMZ Sports show, Paul said Tyson “does not give a s–t what anyone thinks” when asked about the criticism of his age.
“He’s his own boss,” Paul added. “He wants to fight me. He told my team, ‘I don’t give a s–t about this. Like, tell Jake I’m still going to rip his head off and knock him the f–k out. And, this just bought him more time.’ Tell Mike Tyson not to fight and to chill and see how that goes.”
From the time the fight was first announced in March, there was pushback because of Tyson’s age.
“I think it’s bad the commission has licensed Mike Tyson because he hasn’t been active in 20 years, so they should not just license him because of who he is. That’s how people get hurt,” former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder told Sportsbook Review in May (h/t Ryan Walker of The Daily Mail).
Tyson will turn 58 on June 30. He will be 31 years older than Paul and competing in his first non-exhibition boxing match since June 2005.
Per Harry Brent of the Daily Star, the 31-year age gap will be the biggest between two boxers in a sanctioned bout. The current record is 24 years when Archie Moore (49) squared off with Mike DiBiase (25) in 1963.
There is also the lingering question of Tyson’s physical state. The fight was originally supposed to take place on July 20, but had to be rescheduled after Iron Mike experienced a health scare during a flight from Miami to Los Angeles on May 26.
Tyson said in a statement he suffered an “ulcer flareup” and was advised to cut back on his training for the time being, but his “body is in better overall shape than it has been since the 1990s and I will be back to my full training schedule soon.”
The new date for the fight is November 15. Tyson hasn’t won a fight, professional or exhibition, since defeating Clifford Etienne via first-round knockout on Feb. 22, 2003.
Paul has a 9-1 record in 10 professional bouts. His most recent fight was a first-round TKO victory over Ryan Bourland on March 2.
