ARLINGTON, Texas – Jake Paul and Mike Tyson met in a news conference setting for the second time Thursday at Texas Live! – and things got a little spicy.
For the first time since the bout was announced, trash talk was plentiful. Unlike their previous news conference in New York, cordiality dissipated as the event rolled on.
Paul (9-1) put down Tyson (50-6) and said he’d be the last guy to sleep him.
“I respect Mike and he’s a legend,” Paul said. “But it’s time. It’s my time now. There’s a reason I have the same birthday as Cus D’Amato because I’m going to teach you how to box, Mike.”
Tyson repeatedly called Paul “fat” and questioned the YouTuber-turned-boxer’s resume and power. He also promised to knock Paul out with the first punch he lands.
“He can’t even knock out [Nate] Diaz,” Tyson said. “[Nate] Diaz is 40 pounds. How are you going to knock me out? Who’s the other guy? Anderson Silva. He didn’t knock out those little guys. How’s he going to knock me out? … Who did he knock out? Who did he knock out? Little children. He never knocked out a real man. Come on.”
All of the trash talk may not have even been necessary to sell the fight. According to news conference host Brian Custer, the fight broke the largest live combat sports gate in Texas history less than 24 hours after tickets went on sale to the public. A specific figure was not revealed.
Thursday’s news conference took place a little over two months prior to the July 20 event at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. The event will stream on Netflix and mark the streaming service’s first delve into live combat sports.
It’s co-headlined by a rematch of one of the best women’s boxing bouts ever, as Amanda Serrano (46-2-1) and Katie Taylor (23-1) collide once again. Both women were also present at Thursday’s press conference.
Check out a highlight of the press conference in the video above.
