Former undisputed heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson was left unimpressed when Jake Paul presented him with a pigeon as a gift ahead of their much-anticipated clash on Friday.
The boxing titans are set to settle their score once and for all on November 15 at the ATandT Stadium in Texas, where they’ll face off in front of a crowd of up to 80,000 fans.
The bout was originally scheduled for earlier this year, but Tyson had to pull out due to an ulcer flare-up during a flight. Despite concerns about the 58-year-old’s health, ‘Iron Mike’ insists he’ll be fit and ready to step into the ring later this week.
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Tyson hasn’t fought professionally since his loss to Kevin McBride in 2005, although he did participate in an exhibition match against Roy Jones Jr four years ago. As for Paul, the young American has been quite active since his professional debut in 2020.
With a professional record of 10-1, ‘The Problem Child’ has already defeated big names like Anderson Silva, Tyron Woodley, Nate Diaz, and Ben Askren. His only defeat came at the hands of Tommy Fury last year.
With the fight just days away, both men are wrapping up their training camps. They recently appeared on a Face 2 Face interaction, which was uploaded to the official Most Valuable Promotions YouTube channel.
In his typical pre-fight shenanigans, Paul continued his tradition of gifting his opponents by presenting Tyson with a Southeast Asian pigeon worth a small fortune. However, the gesture didn’t quite land with Tyson, who offered a scathing reply: “This looks like a low budget pedigree…No one loves him he has no bands or anything. He doesn’t belong to nobody. I’ll feed him to my falcon.”
Mike Tyson and Jake Paul go head-to-head in an eight-round bout on November 15
The boxing world has expressed concern over the event, especially given the significant age difference of 31 years between the fighters.
Promoter Eddie Hearn plans to be at AT&T Stadium to cheer on Katie Taylor in her highly anticipated rematch against Amanda Serrano but insists he will make an exit before the headline fight. Speaking to BBC Sport, Hearn explained his stance: “We received a massive offer for Katie. I’m not going to tell her she’s not allowed to fight on that card,” adding, “Financially it’s the biggest purse of her career. I won’t be watching the main event. We’ll be there defending the belts, and then I’ll be off”.
Hearn isn’t the only one who isn’t a fan of the heavyweight showdown. Behind-the-scenes footage of Tyson’s training camp has been aired by Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) YouTube channel, providing a sneak peak into his conditioning ahead of the bout.
In the video, between sets, ‘Iron Mike’ revealed to his trainers that some of his wealthy friends had been begging for him not to fight the young American, only for the 58-year-old to offer a clear response. “I have some friends, they’re pretty wealthy”, he said. “They said, ‘Don’t fight, I give you money’. [I’m like] ‘You f—— crazy? ‘”.
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