Mike Tyson expressed support for Dana White’s potential entry into boxing promotion, discussed his upcoming fight with Jake Paul, and commented on the need to protect certain athletes from themselves due to their unwillingness to quit despite health risks.
Mike Tyson has been in the boxing game a long time. He’s happy to see Dana White jump in.
Ahead of his Nov. 15 fight with Jake Paul, Tyson appeared on the It Is What It Is podcast. He discussed a number of topics, including White’s potential foray into the squared circle.
White recently expressed renewed interest in his oft-discussed Zuffa Boxing promotion. Tyson believes that the UFC CEO’s promotional style will translate perfectly to this new endeavor.
“That’s going to be the best thing to happen to boxing, just like UFC,” Tyson said. “If you’re in UFC, and if anybody’s booing the fight, you’re not going to see that guy."
His next fight is going to be in South Dakota somewhere. Only good fights.
"If you don’t have a good fight, you ain’t never going to see that guy again," Tyson continued. “Not like boxing, ‘This guy’s going to fight next month again? We don’t want to see that.’”
“If any fights stink, you’re not back in the UFC no more. You’re never going to see those guys again.”
Tyson specifically mentioned Shakur Stevenson as an example of a star boxer receiving lukewarm reception from fans. Stevenson recently defended his WBC lightweight title with a lopsided decision win over Artem Harutyunyan.
The bout was lambasted by fans and media for a lack of action.
The 58-year-old Tyson expects to draw plenty of eyeballs for his return to the ring in November when he takes on Paul. That matchup has also drawn its fair share of criticism.
Tyson is 31 years older than Paul. Paul rose to fame as a YouTuber and social media influencer.
Paul is competing professionally for the first time since 2005. Tyson most recently squared off with fellow boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition bout in November 2020.
That card coincidentally featured Paul fighting basketball star Nate Robinson on the undercard. Asked for his thoughts on Paul as a boxer, Tyson was brief.
“I don’t know,” Tyson said. “He’s improved since the first time he fought."
"I started him off, I started Jake off." Tyson added, "I let him fight on my undercard four years ago, no one knew who the hell he was."
"So I started him and, most likely, it looks like I’m going to finish him.” Much of the criticism surrounding Tyson vs. Paul are concerns over Tyson’s health.
The two were actually supposed to fight this past July. A pre-fight medical scare ahead of that date led to the bout being postponed.
Tyson didn’t speak directly about his own health situation. However, he was asked to comment on whether he felt frequently concussed NFL quarterback Tua Tagovailoa should continue playing football.
His answer may have reflected his thoughts on his own career and that of other combat sports lifers. “Let me explain this to you," Tyson said.
"There’s some athletes you have to protect them from themselves, because they would rather die than quit.” So that answers the question.