Thursday’s pre-fight press conference for this summer’s Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight got a little heated, as the former YouTuber made a bold prediction about how he’ll fare against the legendary heavyweight.
While getting into a back-and-forth with the crowd, Paul declared that he’s going to “knock this old man the f–k out.”
Paul and Tyson are scheduled to meet in the ring on July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, in the first combat sports event to be streamed live on Netflix. The co-main event will be a highly anticipated rematch between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano with Taylor’s undisputed lightweight titles on the line.
A pre-fight press conference was held on Monday that was far less contentious. Tyson candidly admitted that his “body is s–t right now,” while Paul declared that he hits harder than the former heavyweight champion.
On Thursday, the main eventers seemed to have no love lost between one another. Tyson fired back, “I’m going to f–k Jake up. How am I going to lose if he couldn’t beat Tommy Fury?”
Tyson will be 58 years old when he faces the 27-year-old Paul, and the 31-year age gap is the largest in professional boxing history. Still, Tyson said he doesn’t buy into the notion that their matchup is a gimmick fight because he’s confident in his chances to be victorious that night.
Paul is 9-1 in his young career and is coming off back-to-back first-round finish victories. It remains to be seen if he will be able to back up his lofty words when he stands across from Tyson on July 20.