Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul are set to fight in a professional boxing match on July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The event will air on Netflix for free and will likely set viewership records.
Boxing Hall of Famer and former coach of Mike Tyson, Teddy Atlas, gave his thoughts on the matchup while in Saudi Arabia for the the Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk undisputed heavyweight showdown.
“What do I make of it? Let’s see, let me think for a minute. You don’t have to be a genius to figure this one out, that he’s (Tyson) getting paid a lot of money,” Atlas told Boxing King Media. “We don’t know what’s real yet until we find out.”
“I don’t know if it’s real. I know that Jake Paul has worked very hard to learn boxing and has been very smart about doing it. He’s very smart; you have to give him credit,” Atlas continued. “And I know, even at 58, or whatever age it is now, I know that the one thing that doesn’t go away from a fighter – I know it better than anyone because a man, a very special man named George Foreman at 45-years of age beat my fighter – because the one thing that doesn’t disappear is power.
“Reflexes, they go away. Speed, it disintegrates a little bit and deteriorates a little bit. But Power, no, it stays. Tyson still has power. He still, you can see he’s still got quickness. He’s got those quick-twitch muscles where he’s still got muscle memory. He was one of the great heavyweights,” Atlas said. “I would say this, if it’s real, the first couple of rounds are going to be very dangerous for Jake Paul. The first couple of round with Tyson, the way that he would come out and do wha the normally does which is make you miss and create an opening. He still has the power to do real, serious damage.”
Paul is coming off a first-round knockout win over Ryan Bourland in his last outing. He’s 9-1 in his professional boxing career, but hasn’t faced anyone that has the resume of “Iron Mike.” Tyson last fought in November 2020. He faced Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition bout. The fight went the distance and was ruled a draw.