In most fight weeks, open workouts are a great exercise of pointlessness. They are a chance for promoters to role out the boxers in front of the public in a late PR push, but there’s very little to be taken from what they do in the ring.

They’ll do a bit of shadow boxing, showcase some light pad work, maybe do some jump rope and wave to their fans. Any lessons or takeaways are few and far between.

But this isn’t a normal fight week, because Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson is far from an ordinary fight. And for perhaps the first time I can remember covering boxing, there was a genuine intrigue watching open workouts in order to see an unfiltered look at Tyson in the ring.

There’s been plenty of carefully crafted and edited training footage of Tyson, once the ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’, hammering the pads. This, however, was the first opportunity to see him away from any editing and selectivity when showing what he now looks like at 58-years-old.

Around 400 fans flocked to the Toyota Music Factory in Irving, Texas to get a glimpse of the legendary Tyson in the first event of fight week before Friday’s huge showdown at AT&T Stadium just down the road in Arlington. What they saw was a version of Tyson that is not your average 58-year-old but is still clearly just that – a 58-year-old.

After he slowly walked to the ring, he eventually laced up the gloves and took to the pads. He eventually start throwing one-two combinations.

At times he made it up to one-two-three, always throwing power punches as his coach provided over-the-top reactions in an attempt to convey Tyson’s power to those watching.

Tyson showcased his ferocious power but lacked much speed

Tyson showcased his ferocious power but lacked much speed ( 

Image:

YouTube/MostValuablePromotions)

There were some audible gasps and a sense that Tyson still has power. But there was little from Tyson’s 5-10 minutes in the ring to suggest he has much else.

He looked slow both in terms of his foot and hand speed. He plodded around the ring, never really throwing a burst of more than three punches and it was all very choreographed.

Will Paul fancy being hit by this version of Mike Tyson? Absolutely not.

But will Tyson even get close enough to showcase that power? Probably not, based on what we’ve seen so far.

Tyson looked like a 58-year-old, because that’s what he is. In stark contrast, Paul came bouncing out to the ring, looking light on his feet, sharper with his hands and every bit like someone 31 years Tyson’s junior.

Jake Paul is more than 30 years younger than Tyson

Jake Paul is more than 30 years younger than Tyson ( 

Image:

(Image: Getty))

He doesn’t possess the power of Tyson. And Tyson probably could hurt him. But in order to do that, he’d have to get to him.

Paul boldly predicted after his workout that he is about to ‘outbox’ Mike Tyson. And after seeing them both up close, I am more convinced than ever that he could well do.

It’s likely to be a tale decided simply by vastly different levels of athleticism. If Paul moves around the ring, it’s hard to see Tyson ever getting close enough to hit him. If Tyson does unload, it’s hard to see Paul not having the reflexes to avoid him.

In reality, the outcome seems likely to be one of two things – a Mike Tyson knockout, or a Jake Paul points win in a comfortable contest. The latter, in my eyes, looks almost nailed on, albeit after only a very brief glimpse of what both men might have to offer.