Jake Paul has mocked Tommy Fury as he appears to set his sights on a big money fight with Mike Tyson.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer is 5-0 as a professional, and is eager to get back in the ring in August. He had listed six possible opponents for his return including Fury, but could now be set to take on former world heavyweight champion Tyson in a massive pay-per-view fight.
He and Tyson are friends, and partied together in St Bart's over New Years' after meeting during promotion for their shared card in 2020. But Paul believes that a mega-money bout with the legendary Tyson would be a legacy-defining event akin to his brother Logan's bout with Floyd Mayweather last summer in Florida.
Speaking with Mirror Fighting at the weigh-in for Saturday night's Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano fight on DAZN, Paul explained that Tyson would trump all other contenders, including Fury, for his next fight. The iconic former boxer made his ring return against Roy Jones in November 2020, and has said he just needs 30 days to prepare for his next outing.
Asked if he would feel bad getting in the ring with the 55-year-old Tyson, Paul responded: "No, have you seen him? He's still hitting the pads like crazy, still a killer, still in phenomenal shape. He'd have a big weight advantage, 20 or 30lb essentially, it's growing in his gut. It would be a good fight, obviously he has way more experience than me."
Tyson weighed in at 220lb for his exhibition bout with Jones two years ago, while Paul generally fights at 190, walking around just under 200lb. The fearsome knockout artist went 50-6 in his professional career, but hasn't fought in a sanctioned bout since 2005 against Irishman Kevin McBride, when Paul was just seven-years-old.
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"This would be the most legendary fight," Paul explained of the unique challenge. "For my legacy, it would be the most fun for me, the most motivating and sell the most pay-per-views. To share the ring with a legend would be something I could talk about for the rest of my life and share with my kids. So why fight Tommy Fury when you can fight Mike Tyson?"
Tyson, for his part, has seemed to flip-flop on the idea throughout the past few months. He first appeared to price himself out of the event by calling for a billion-dollar payout, but has thawed on the idea in recent weeks. "Hell yeah [I'd do it], only to break the record," Tyson said on his ' Hotboxin ' podcast. " Jake Paul believe it not is more profitable than the champs, this guy probably brings about 80million people to the table. Let's do it Jakey, God wouldn't that be cool."
