Former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has looked ahead to the controversial clash between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson but admitted one outstanding concern that he has ahead of the bout and condemned the decision for the bout to be sanctioned as a professional one.
Mike Tyson will break the record of longest professional career of any heavyweight champion when he steps through the ropes to take on the YouTuber-turned-boxer, returning from retirement after almost two decades and putting his official 50-6 record on the line.
Meanwhile Paul, who is almost 30 years younger than the once ‘baddest man on the planet’, has boxed regularly and will fight for the fourth time within eleven months when he faces Tyson – with consecutive first-round knockout wins in his last two bouts.
As a result, the world of boxing is concerned for the health of Mike Tyson, regardless of the fact that he has kept himself in good shape since hanging up the gloves. In an interview with Sportsbook Review, Wilder outlined his worries and declared that he ‘doesn’t want to see it’.
“I think that it’s bad the commission has licensed Mike Tyson because he hasn’t been active in 20 years, so they should not just licence him because of who he is, that’s how people get hurt, god forbid he gets hurt.
“People can get hit in the wrong place and at the wrong time, there’s lots of examples where guys have been hit into a coma. It’s easy to do. He’s too old for this. At the end of the day, no one gives a f*** about Mike. We can talk about the pros and cons, but at the end of the day, they don’t give a f***.
“I don’t think anyone cares about Mike because if they did they wouldn’t sanction the fight. They may say they’ve done tests and all that, ok, but as long as you’re willing to suffer the consequences if something bad goes wrong.”
“His power may not have left completely but you still need to set it up, your stamina needs to be a certain way, or it’s going to look like a clown show. I don’t want to see it to be honest. I don’t want to see one of my legends fight a YouTuber.
“If he goes in there and he knocks Mike out, that’s going to tarnish the reputation of Mike. I don’t want the last thing I remember of him is him getting knocked out by a Youtuber. The last thing you do, that’s what people remember you by.”
Whether Paul-Tyson should go ahead or not, the July 20th bill is expected to be one of the highest profile boxing cards of the year and the addition of the undisputed super-lightweight title clash on the undercard will draw further views from those boxing fans who would have perhaps abstained otherwise.
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