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Topics: Mike Tyson, Sport, Boxing, Jake Paul
Cameron Frew
Mike Tyson has named his price for fighting Jake Paul: $1 billion.
The former heavyweight champion marked his 16-year comeback in 2020 when he took on Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition bout. There wasn’t a knockout, nor did any ears get chomped, but Iron Mike is still an absolute unit.
In some ways, boxing is just the same: people still throw down pay-per-view money for Tyson Fury, Amir Khan, Anthony Joshua, Oleksandr Usyk and others. However, there's a lucrative novelty market these days, spearheaded by the Paul brothers.
Jake and Logan Paul have gone from YouTubers to two of the biggest names in boxing, for better or worse. Logan took on Floyd Mayweather and lived to tell the tale, while Jake fought and beat UFC stars Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley.
Tyson would be a comically-big step-up for Jake - but money talks, and if the price is right, the legend is willing to get in the ring once more.
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During the latest episode of Tyson's Hotboxin' podcast, he was asked about the prospect of fighting Paul, particularly after rumours emerged of negotiations for a bout in Las Vegas between the two.
'Nobody told me that. Hey, I ain't got no f**king money. So where's the f**king contract?' he said.
'I ain't know nothing about it. Listen, I've been smoking with him forever, I did some shrooms with him as well. But I've never heard this.
'I was with him in St. Barts not too long ago partying and he never told me this. I've never heard this from nobody, I've just heard this from you guys.'
When asked how much it would cost to convince Tyson to actually fight Jake, he replied: 'A billion bucks.'
Money isn't exactly a problem for the Paul brothers, but $1 billion would be unprecedented, given that the most successful pay-per-view fight in boxing history at the time of writing is 2015's Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao, which made more than $400 million.
In January this year, Tyson said it was unlikely he'd ever fight again after bouts with Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield fell through.
However, he did express interest in fighting the Paul brothers last year. 'Hell yeah... that would be a lot of money,' he said.
Speaking on Club Shay Shay, Tyson also spoke about how competitors underestimate Jake - and that's what gets them in trouble.
'These guys are very emotional and they want him to fight him so bad they forget that he’s a trained fighter,' he said.
'He’s going to make them believe that they can really beat this guy because he’s white with blonde hair and blue eyes, and then they go in the ring and something different happens.'
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