Mike Tyson Says He Is Ready to Fight Jake Paul

Mike Tyson has only fought once in the past sixteen years. Jake Paul rose to fame as a YouTube star but has since won five fights on pay-per-view.

On a special “4/20” episode of his podcast “Hotboxin,” former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson said he is ready to fight Jake Paul, aiming to break the record for pay-per-view buys with the YouTube star turned professional boxer.

“Hell yeah, only to break the record,” Tyson said about the potential bout. The current pay-per-view record was headlined by the 2015 Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao fight that drew 4.6 million pay-per-view buys.

“Let’s do it Jakey,” the former baddest man on the planet said.

Tyson, other than punching a fan who was allegedly harassing him on a plane last week, was last seen in action in an exhibition match against fellow boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. in November 2020. That match ended in a draw and was co-headlined with Jake Paul’s fight against former NBA star Nate Robinson, a match that Paul won.

Tyson and Paul have become friends recently and were spotted partying in St. Barts. In January, multiple reports came out that Tyson and Paul’s teams had been in discussions for a potential fight, but nothing came of it. Tyson said “It’s all love” between him and Paul.

Paul has made a name for himself by fighting in and usually winning gimmick matches against athletes who are not boxers. He last fought former UFC champion Tyron Woodley, winning in the sixth round by stoppage. Despite Woodley not being a boxer, it was still impressive. Woodley is a professional fighter and Paul showed a strong right hand in his bouts.

During the podcast, which is co-hosted by Tyson and former NBA star Paul Pierce, Tyson told guest Joe Rogan that he was worried about Paul while partying with him.

“‘Hey man, you’re going to go to jail for real, chill out,’” Tyson says he told Paul, “This dude’s crazy, he would be throwing stuff at people, bottles and stuff.”

The conversation turned to Tyson’s career about an hour into the podcast, when Rogan asked Tyson if he was open to another fight. “I was going to stop and then they started offering some real dough.”

Money seems to be a motivating factor for Tyson. Both he and Jones Jr. accused Tiller, who promoted the fight, of not paying them in full. Tiller vehemently denied the accusations. Jake Paul was also fighting under Tiller promotions until recently when he left for Showtime Sports.

“This guy brings like 80 million people,” Tyson said of Paul “[I’d do it] only to break the record.”

Since his return fight against Jones Jr. Tyson has been linked to several dream exhibition matches. He was rumored to fight Lennox Lewis and to have a third match with Evander Holyfield. Tyson’s boxing career started to fall off the rails after losing to Holyfield twice, with the second match ending after Tyson intentionally bit Holyfield’s ear, ending the match in disqualification.

Paul has a fight scheduled in August but his opponent has not been announced yet. It is unlikely that Tyson could be ready for that bout, with him also complaining about health problems and losing muscle mass during the podcast.