Jake Paul is set to face Mike Tyson in his twelfth professional boxing contest.
Tyson holds the record of the youngest ever heavyweight world champion. He did that 37 years ago, 11 years before Paul was born. He now returns to the ring just shy of twenty years on from a retirement that was brought on by losing love for the sport.
The bout has understandably drawn considerable criticism due to the age and activity gap. Paul, despite having fought nowhere near the level Tyson did, has a record of 10-1 in the sport, facing mostly retired MMA fighters but keeping active and dedicated in training.
In his third contest, he knocked out Olympic wrestler and MMA Champion Ben Askren in one round. In an episode of his podcast Funky and the Champ, Askren sided with Paul in a fight that is ‘lose-lose’.
“I just feel like 58 is… I mean, yes the one thing he’ll probably retain is the power, so Mike Tyson needs to catch him. But the gas tank and all the other things that go with it definitely go downhill, especially when you haven’t been doing it very competitively.
I feel like that’s how it’s gonna go, it’s gonna be competitive early. 58 is old and he’s probably gonna get tired and, yeah. It’s a [lose-lose] because everybody loves Mike Tyson. You’re beating up a 58-year-old. He hasn’t been actively competitive in twenty years.”
Askren, perhaps like many fans of the sport of boxing, still holds out hope that ‘Iron’ Mike can land one of the shots that made him famous.
“Wouldn’t we all love to see it? Let’s not get our hopes up. Santa may not bring you anything nice but if he does it’ll be a great surprise.”
