Dan Le Batard is giving Jake Paul a half-minute.
Le Batard, sportswriter-turned-radio host, had harsh words for the YouTube star-turned-boxer after it was announced Paul will face off against 57-year-old Mike Tyson in a live-streamed boxing match on Netflix.
“Jake Paul, you’re an idiot. You are going to get knocked out,” he said on “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz” on Thursday. “You have no chance in this fight unless Mike Tyson is nice to you.”
Le Batard didn’t stop laying into Paul there, calling the 27-year-old “awful.”
“Mike Tyson will be generous if he allows Jake Paul to spend 11 seconds in that ring with him because Jake Paul is not one fraction of the fighter Mike Tyson was, even at this age,” Le Batard said.
Fighting Tyson represents maybe the most legitimate test of Paul’s career, even if that isn’t saying much.
Paul, who has been brash and vocal about his entry into the boxing world, has carefully picked his opponents in the early years of his career.
His early bouts came against fellow YouTubers and ex-NBA star Nate Robinson before transitioning to former MMA fighters.
Paul lost by split decision to boxer Tommy Fury in his first fight against a true professional.
None, however, packs the punch and professional pedigree of Tyson, who owns a 50-6-0-2 record with 44 KOs and held the undisputed heavyweight championship belt from 1987-90. His legend grew when he became the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles.
“Iron Mike” most recently fought in 2020 in an eight-round exhibition against Roy Jones Jr., a matchup in which Paul’s tussle with Robinson was a co-featured bout.
“Even though Mike Tyson is an old man, Jake Paul has never been hit by this kind of fighter,” Le Batard said. “Mike Tyson should be an overwhelming favorite to knock out Jake Paul, if he simply wants to.”
Paul and Tyson’s fight will be streaming live on Netflix on July 20th at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
It’s unclear is Le Batard will be tuning in just yet.
