Mike Tyson is reportedly doing well on his comeback trail.
And Jake Paul is not happy about it.
“He’s doing great — and Jake is pissed,” Paul’s advisor and promotional partner Nakisa Bidarian said on The MMA Hour, “because he sees Mike in Europe, living life, doing appearances, celebrating his birthday, and he’s like, ‘What? I thought he was injured. Like, what’s going on?’
“I talked to Team Tyson yesterday. They said he’s back, not doing boxing training, but doing strength and conditioning, feels great. So everything looks to be on track. But first, we’ve got to get through Saturday, July 20.”
Tyson withdrew from his scheduled big-money boxing match against Paul in May after the Hall of Fame boxer suffered health complications related to an ulcer flare-up.
In Tyson’s stead, Paul is now set to face UFC veteran and BKFC star Mike Perry in a July 20 boxing match at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.
Paul vs. Tyson remains on the menu, though. The bout between the 27-year-old social media star and the 57-year-old former heavyweight champ has been rescheduled for November 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tex., much to the chagrin of critics who argue Tyson’s health issues only inflame concerns that the fight is an irresponsible and dangerous booking.
Bidarian sees the whole debate over Tyson’s health and age as much ado about nothing.
“Anyone can get an ulcer, right? And injuries, as I just said, look at Conor McGregor — 36 years old, he’s been rehabbing for three years, the fight gets postponed,” Bidarian said. “Mike Tyson and Jake Paul makes sense because of the age, from my perspective. If Mike was in his early 30s, given Jake’s experience, there’s no sense to that fight. Age is the equalizing factor. When you look at Mike Tyson at age 27, he was 40-1. Jake Paul is 27, he’s 9-1. Jake Paul has been a professional for four years. Mike Tyson at that point was a professional for I think 14 years.
“So what makes this fight exciting, what makes it real, is that there is a chance that either guy can lose. And if you actually talk to the vast majority of the public, if you look at the polls we’ve done, everyone thinks that Mike Tyson is going to knock out Jake Paul. So I think as long as he has a clean bill of health, which he did and he 100 percent will if we move forward with November 15, which we plan to, then of course that fight should happen.”
“We went through the process of his full medicals and making sure his doctors gave him the clearances, and then working with the commission to get to that point as well,” Bidarian later added. “So we felt comfortable. The rules are obviously eight rounds, two minutes, and those two minutes are really to give Mike the chance to be as powerful and impactful as he can. Because look, power doesn’t go, but certainly stamina goes when you get older. That’s that’s clear, right? So it’s, how do you equalize the playing field in all regards?”
In many ways, the financial and cultural significance of Paul vs. Tyson puts even more pressure on Paul to handle business against Perry on July 20. In addition to the mainstream attention Paul vs. Tyson is going to draw, it also represents the inaugural foray for Netflix’s entry into live combat sports. Bidarian hopes the streaming giant likes what it sees.
“We want to be in business together for the long-term,” Bidarian said. “But obviously, if I’m Netflix, I would say, ‘Let me do this first one, see how it performs, and then go from there.’”
