If Mike Tyson and Jake Paul‘s representatives are really in talks to arrange a fight between the two, they did not tell Tyson. After The Sun claimed their representatives were arranging an exhibition fight for the two in Las Vegas, Tyson said this was news to him. Tyson, 55, last fought an exhibition match in November 2020, when he faced Roy Jones Jr. in Los Angeles.
“This is new to me,” Tyson tweeted on Monday. “I saw Jake in St. Barths and he never mentioned it.” The 25-year-old Paul, who began his boxing career in 2018, has not commented on the report yet.
Videos by PopCulture.com
In its report, The Sun claimed Paul and Tyson’s representatives wanted to arrange a pay-per-view fight in Las Vegas for later this year. A source told the site the two were “on board” for the idea. “A verbal deal has been struck to get it on, but like all forms of sports business, now it’s all about the contracts and money split,” the source claimed.
“Mike is looking for a certain figure to get into the ring with a profit share guarantee,” the source continued. “Jake obviously has that on his mind but is keen to show the world that stepping into the ring with a man once called the baddest man on the planet, takes his boxing career to the next level.” The organizers of the fight hoped it would generate £36 million (about $49.15 million), the source claimed.
There had been rumors last fall that Tyson was going to fight Paul’s older brother, 26-year-old Logan Paul. When The Sun asked Tyson in October 2021 if he was interested in fighting either of them, Tyson quickly said yes. He predicted a fight with Logan could generate $100 million. During Fight Night in November, Tyson told Showtime he was looking to fight someone in February. “I am going to have a return fight in February and we are pretty skeptical about the opponent, but it will be a really stimulating opponent,” he said.
Paul rose to fame as a controversial YouTuber but pivoted to boxing in 2018. In 2021, Paul made an estimated $40 million from his three boxing victories, according to Forbes. Paul, who turned 25 on Monday, later blasted Forbes on Instagram and claimed he made much more. He noted that Forbes previously over-estimated how much he made in 2018, but this time, they low-balled him.
“On this day, they are actually behind and the numbers are actually low,” he wrote. “Most celebs would say, ‘Thank the lord I’m so blessed,’ but any regular motherf— could do this s— if [you’re] a sicko and ready to die for [your] cause.”
