“You couldn’t draw a million people!” 57-year-old Mike Tyson fires back at ‘jealous’ critics and defends the Jake Paul fight
Mike Tyson will be 58 years old when he takes on Jake Paul in July.
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Mike Tyson (image credit- Boxing Scene)
The Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight caused quite a stir in the boxing world after it was announced out of the blue. As such, people from every corner of the combat sports world criticized the idea of this fight. Several of them highlighted all the things that were wrong with the fight, like the age gap between them. Many fans also believe that this might tarnish the legacy of the legendary heavyweight champion.
Tyson, on the other hand, has been training hard for the fight and is giving it his all, even at the age of 57. Subsequently, Tyson has come across the barrage of criticism that the fight has received. In response, ‘Iron Mike’ called the critics jealous because of the attention the fight has garnered.
I say in your prime you couldn't draw a million people, man. What are you talking you couldn't sell out arena. Who at 58 could sell out an 80,000-seat arena?Mike Tyson via Reuters
The former heavyweight champion firmly believes that people are apprehensive about the fight because of its massive success. Mike Tyson also brought up how several fighters wanted to fight Paul, but he still decided to fight Tyson. Furthermore, Iron Mike indicated that this happened because of how big a star he is.
In addition, Tyson stated that the people who want to fight Paul are ‘boring’ because they cannot generate the same interest that he does. Hence, the heavyweight legend believes that most athletes are jealous, and he called them ‘whack’ because of it.
A former champion wants to replace Mike Tyson
Many people, like Shaquille O’Neal and several other celebrities, believe that Tyson’s age will affect his performance in the fight. While they mention this, they do still believe that Tyson is a beast inside the ring. However, age tends to deter any top-level athlete, but Tyson personally doesn’t seem to doubt himself.
Regardless, he will still have to pass two health tests to be able to compete in the July bout. As such, an ex-champion, Sakio Bika, has volunteered to fight Paul in case Tyson is not able to fight. The former super-middleweight champion stated that he is willing to fight Paul at any weight.
Bika also stated that he is still in shape and trains regularly. Subsequently, Bika brought up his accomplishments in the fight game and justified how suitable of an opponent he would be for Jake Paul. The former champion does not believe that he has anything to prove but would like to have one last big fight.
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Abhijay Roy
(551 Articles Published)