Roy Jones Jr., Lennox Lewis, and Evander Holyfield gave their take on Mike Tyson’s fight with Jake Paul, which will take place on November 15.
Mike Tyson has his first professional boxing fight since losing to Kevin McBride in 2005. It will be an eight-round fight, with each round lasting for two minutes. Tyson initially withdrew from the July 20 date after suffering from an inflamed ulcer.
Mike Perry stepped in as Paul knocked him out in the sixth round to set up the fight with Tyson. All three of those heavyweights mentioned previously have been in the ring with Tyson.
Jake Paul Vs. Mike Tyson
Roy Jones Jr. boxed Mike Tyson in a 2020 exhibition. The fight sold over a million PPVs and ended in a draw. Holyfield faced Tyson twice, beating him on both occasions. He knocked out Tyson in the 11th round during their 1996 clash. The rematch took place a year later, and Tyson was disqualified for infamously biting Holyfield’s ear, giving the latter the win. Lewis faced Tyson in 2002 when he beat him via a unanimous decision. There are worries that the age gap will be a difference in this fight, with Tyson being 58 while Paul is 27.
Paul has been much more active lately, having had three fights since last December; he beat Andre August, Ryan Bourland and Perry. But Tyson is a former Undisputed Heavyweight Champion, who was in Francis Ngannou’s corner for his fight against Tyson Fury. Ngannou put up a good fight, showing that Tyson has a good boxing IQ as he managed to navigate someone who was making his boxing debut after having left the UFC to a split decision loss. This is what the three heavyweights had to say about the fight.
Perspectives
“I believe in Mike Tyson, likely via decision. But if he wants to finish it, he can. Yet, if he’s just looking to enjoy the fight, he might take it slow and have some fun… I’m not worried about Mike and his age. Mike is still hard to hit, and he hits like a truck. When I boxed him four years ago, we did two-minute rounds, and, surprisingly, he didn’t lose energy, he kept the same pace,” Jones Jr. said
“Mike Tyson’s gonna win. He’s not that old. Don’t take him too softly. We’re one year apart. “You can fight somebody like that and do well because the person you’re fighting is not a true fighter and there’s a hundred things that you’ve forgotten that he’s learning. [The age] will be a little bit of a determining factor if the fight goes on too long, but if they get close and Mike comes with his ten-second combination, if one of those punches’ catches [Paul] he’s definitely gonna go down,” Lennox Lewis
“I don’t know how much confidence that Jake Paul has and all of that, but he’s gonna be a lot quicker. If he stays close to Mike then his chance of winning is going to be great, but if he tries to stay back from Mike he’s going to get caught. Mike is like a snake. He’ll pop out on you. He gets there too quick. But if you charge him, you’re going to smother him. He pushes off his legs so he’s too close, but if you give him room everybody gets knocked out going backwards. Give him room and you’re gonna be messed up,” Evander Holyfield
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