NEW YORK – Two generations of boxing face off in Arlington, Texas, in just two months, and neither Mike Tyson nor Jake Paul hide their age.
Tyson, 57, and Paul, 27, began their press tour for their highly anticipated fight on Monday at the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. And, despite being just miles from where Tyson grew up, the crowd seemed pretty divided between the two.
The July 20 fight will mark Tyson's first fight in more than four years, when he fought Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition (Paul was on that card against Nate Robinson). It will be a sanctioned professional fight, in which Tyson has not participated since June 11, 2005 against Kevin McBride.
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Mike Tyson and Jake Paul at the Paul vs. press conference Tyson and Taylor vs. Serrano 2 held at the Apollo Theater on May 13, 2024 in New York City. (Steve Eichner/Variety via Getty Images)
Tyson, formerly known as the “baddest man on the planet,” has been posting clips of his training and make no mistake, his power is still there.
But he is not a young man.
Of course, there are doubts about whether, at his age, he will be able to last the eight rounds, each of which will last two minutes.
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Tyson, once a man who exuded more confidence than anyone, obviously knows that Father Time is undefeated and was brutally honest about how he feels physically.
“My body is like shit right now,” he admitted Monday. “I'm very sore.”
That confidence that Tyson once had, Paul has all of it, if not more.
Mike Tyson and Jake Paul at the Paul vs. press conference Tyson and Taylor vs. Serrano 2 held at the Apollo Theater on May 13, 2024 in New York City. (Steve Eichner/Variety via Getty Images)
The YouTuber-turned-boxer has made the sport the most popular since Tyson's heyday. He's done it in a very different way, but it's no exaggeration to say this may be the biggest fight in modern history.
It's almost ironic that Paul is going from boxers hardly anyone had heard of in his last two fights (Andre August and Ryan Bourland, each of whom were knocked out in the first round) to arguably the greatest of all time .
So when a fan asked Paul if he could “take a punch” from Tyson, that confidence was on display.
“They call him Iron Mike Tyson, but I'm Titanium Jake Paul.”
Paul is 9-1 in his career, with his only loss coming by decision to Tommy Fury.
Mike Tyson, left, and Jake Paul during a pre-fight press conference held at New York's Apollo Theater ahead of the Jake Paul and Mike Tyson heavyweight fight. (Ed Mulholland/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
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Tyson and Paul will now head to Dallas for one more press conference on Thursday, the same day tickets go on sale.
The fight will be broadcast on Netflix, a unique event of its kind, as it will be free for subscribers.
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