Mike Tyson might be refusing to contemplate defeat to Jake Paul later tonight, but it seems he has a friend standing by in case he does lose to the YouTuber. ‘Iron Mike’ will step into the ring at the AT&T Stadium in Texas for his first professional bout in 19 years, following an ill-tempered week which saw the former heavyweight champion slap Paul during the weigh-ins.
In press conferences, the 58-year-old has constantly refused to take questions on the possibility of being beaten by Paul, despite his opponent being 31 years younger than him.
But Amir Khan, a close friend of Mike Tyson, believes the boxing icon has taken a risk by choosing to take the fight.
But Khan also seems prepared to take action if the unthinkable does happen. “If he gets beat you want to protect your friend and jump in and say I’ll give a beating for him,” he told Prime Casino. “So if he beats Mike Tyson then yeah, definitely I’d like to give him a little slap and sort him out.”
The British fighter, who himself retired from the sport in May 2022 after losing to Kell Brook, did however concede Tyson didn’t deserve an abundance of sympathy. “To be honest with you, Mike is a friend of mine and I FaceTime him and we speak,” he claimed, despite seemingly not knowing the age of the American.
“But when you’ve got a 65-year-old man fighting a young, at-his-peak fighter you do feel sorry….. but you can’t feel too sorry for Mike Tyson because he’s taken that chance. It’s a tough one that is but I wouldn’t want to jump in the ring. At the end of the day it’s Mike’s decision to go in the ring and fight.”
Amir Khan, who last fought in early 2022, is a friend of Mike Tyson’s. (Image: Getty)
Mike Tyson last fought in an exhibition bout with Roy Jones Jnr back in 2020, the pair battling to an eight-round draw. But his decision to take this clash with ‘The Problem Child’ has prompted as much concern as it has excitement, with the initial date for the bout postponed after Tyson suffered an ulcer flare-up aboard an aeroplane.
And in an apparent message to the fighter once dubbed ‘the baddest man on the planet’, Khan added: “We all think that Mike Tyson is going to go into the ring and go for the knockout, and he might get the knockout as well, but he has to be smart in there and focused – because we want to see Mike go in there, tear him apart, and walk out in one piece.”
Khan however, also teased his own potential comeback. A year after the 37-year-old announced he was walking away with a professional record of 34 wins in 40 fights, the Olympic silver medalist was given a two-year backdated ban when a doping test revealed the presence of astatine in his system.
That suspension has now expired, and the former unified light-welterweight world champion is targeting an exhibition contest with the legendary Manny Pacquiao. During his own career, speculation over negotiations with both the Philippine fighter and Floyd Mayweather Jnr were frequent, but a clash with either man never materialised.
“The next one we’re looking at is in the boxing ring and it is with the likes of Manny Pacquiao, so that’s what we are looking at and the country that’s backing it is very, very powerful,” he said, without confirming the potential venue. “The fans want it, now the ball is in Manny’s court if he wants to do it.
“I know there’s a lot going on in his life as he’s in politics. It’s just a waiting game. This happens a lot in boxing and then you both end up getting bored of it. When you’ve seen the proof of funds from the country itself, you know that it is real.”