“Don’t Sell Out”: Eddie Hearn Claps Back at Nakisa and BJ Flores for Hypocritical Remarks Over Ngannou in Tyson vs. Paul Defence

Matchroom Boxing head Eddie Hearn thinks Mike Tyson’s best years are well behind him. In an interview with Daily Mail, he claimed that Tyson was “shot to pieces” 20 years ago and had no business entering the ring against Jake Paul at the age of fifty-eight on November 15 at AT&T stadium. “I’m lucky enough to have a business where we don’t need to do that, and I will never do that. I don’t think it’s ever something you would see a real boxing person be involved with,” he said. In another conversation, Hearn even went as far as to call Tyson’s fight with the Problem Child “a travesty to boxing.”

Now, Jake Paul‘s manager and Most Valuable Promotions’ co-founder Nakisa Bidarian has shot back at Hearn for his comments on the Netflix event. He even roped in Francis Ngannou, who crossed over from MMA to boxing, to make his case about Hearn’s diametrically opposite stance on how ‘The Predator’s’ fight against Tyson Fury was a “circus”, but the former UFC champion’s fight against his charge Anthony Joshua was a “real fight”.

“It’s funny. I remember when Francis Ngannou was fighting Tyson Fury, you were out there saying it was a circus, a clown show. Shouldn’t be happening. But, as soon as the opportunity came for you to be involved with Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou, you were running so fast to sign the contract, talking about, it’s a real fight.” Immediately after, Jake Paul’s former trainer, BJ Flores, backed Nakisa up by saying, “He’s 100% correct. Everybody switches up.”

Not in the mood to let allegations of “switching” based on his business interests slide, Hearn hinted at the fact that the Mike Tyson and Francis Ngannou comparison was a bit absurd as the latter was “an active UFC fighter” who almost “beat” the then-WBC champion Tyson Fury whereas Mike Tyson retired from professional boxing in 2005. “There’s a bit of a big difference. Francis was an active UFC fighter who basically beat (IMO) Tyson Fury. That win gave him all the credibility he needed. Mike is in his 50’s and 20 years ago he was shot as a fighter. Dont sell out BJ you are better than that,” Hearn wrote on X.

Thereafter, a back-and-forth ensued between Flores and Hearn, where the former defended Paul stating that he brought “more eyeballs to the sport of boxing”, and that Mike Tyson “is a grown man that makes his own decisions.” In response, Hearn said that Tyson was “in his 50s” and who last “fought 20 years ago”, and wasn’t “healthy enough” to get into a showdown with the ‘Problem Child’.

“As for a grown man making his own decisions you know it’s up to the people around fighters to make the right decision and you know he shouldn’t be fighting. You are a boxing man BJ! Anyway, god bless my friend,” Hearn wrote in conclusion. It seems the debate over the morality of the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight is here to stay, at least until the fight happens in November.

But Eddie Hearn isn’t the only one in the fight business who is concerned about Mike Tyson. Let’s see what the former heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has to say about ‘Iron Mike’ entering the ring against an opponent who is 31 years younger than him.

Mike Tyson “in a coma” is not good for boxing!

Deontay Wilder was unhappy that the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations (TDLR) sanctioned Mike Tyson’s bout against Jake Paul. Wilder highlighted the potential danger of Tyson getting “hurt” in the fight, and possibly ending up in a “coma”.

“I think it’s bad the commission has licensed Mike Tyson because he hasn’t been active in 20 years, so they should not just license him because of who he is, that’s how people get hurt – God forbid he gets hurt,” Wilder told Sportsbook Review in an interview in May. “There’s lots of examples where guys have been hit into a coma. It’s easy to do. He’s too old for this,” Wilder further stated.

Mike Tyson’s fight against Jake Paul will be 8 2-minute rounds with 14-ounce gloves. Despite the boxing community’s apprehensions about Tyson’s health, ‘The Baddest Man of the Planet’ is determined to beat the odds that are stacked against him, and secure a knockout win against Jake Paul. After all, he has already started the countdown to Jake Paul’s “wake” already.

Do you think it was a smart move from Mike Tyson and his team to arrange a boxing fight with Jake Paul? Let us know in the comment section below.