Jake Paul won’t be getting the version of Mike Tyson inside the ring he thought he was.
Shortly after the Paul-Tyson exhibition boxing fight — which will take place on July 20 at AT&T Stadium and air exclusively on Netflix — was announced, Paul described his reasoning in a post on X that included a video of Tyson looking terrifying in training.
“He’s the greatest heavyweight of all time…the most vicious KO artist ever,” Paul wrote in the post. “But I’m younger, I’m faster and I’m going to be working my ass off to get stronger. A member of my team sent me this video that Mike’s coach put up two weeks ago and asked me if I’m sure that I want to do this…yes, yes I do. Heavyweight.”
In the video, Tyson can be seen throwing vintage haymakers with his trainer in the same style fans became accustomed to during his iconic, and controversial, career.
Except the video wasn’t taken two weeks ago.
It was actually filmed four years ago, when Tyson posted it on social media ahead of his Nov. 28, 2020 exhibition bout against Roy Jones Jr.
And for as good as Tyson, now 57, looked in the video, it wasn’t as easy for him as Paul seemingly thought.
Tyson went on “The Joe Rogan Experience” shortly after the video was released in 2020.
“I did that video and I was in bed for week,” Tyson said on the show. “That was 30 seconds and I was in bed for a week. And it’s not funny because it made me realize that this is big boy s–t.”
For his part, Tyson says he respects Paul’s boxing ability.
“He’s grown significantly as a boxer over the years, so it will be a lot of fun to see what the will and ambition of a ‘kid’ can do with the experience and aptitude of a GOAT,” Tyson said of Paul in a statement. “It’s a full-circle moment that will be beyond thrilling to watch, as I started him on his boxing journey on the undercard of my fight with Roy Jones, and now I plan to finish him.”
