The Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul boxing match has been postponed indefinitely, which didn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Tyson, 58, is three decades older than Paul and has a quite public history of health issues, including mobility issues due to his bad knees, and even suffered health issues on a flight recently.
The bout, of course, has been criticized almost universally by the combat sports world, for the purported mismatch in both men’s age and athletic abilities at the moment. Among the critics is one of Tyson’s closest friends and fervent supporters, Dana White, who revealed his main problem with the bout in a recent podcast interview.
Dana White thinks Jake Paul is scared to fight opponents on an equal level
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Dana White went on Andrew Schulz and Aakash Singh’s ‘Flagrant Podcast’, where he spoke about why he is against Tyson-Paul. Originally scheduled for July 20, the bout has been pushed back indefinitely. Upon the news breaking of the postponement, the UFC CEO was among the loudest and most prominent voices to speak up against it publicly.
On the podcast, White repeated his concerns and along with the age concerns also pointed to something very important: Jake Paul’s loss to fellow celebrity boxer, Tommy Fury “My biggest problem with the Jake Paul thing is and how this plays out is when he actually fought somebody who was a boxer, who had the same type of record he has, who is his age and who is his size, he f***ing lost. So they’re never gonna go that f***ing route again,” he said.
Paul, of course, had faced Fury, who rose to prominence after his stint on ‘Love Island’ (and for being Tyson Fury’s younger brother), in February last year. As the UFC boss pointed out, both had similar records, size, and age. Paul had lost a close split decision to the Englishman in their eight-round boxing match.
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White felt that this was the ‘biggest problem’ with Jake Paul, as he felt that ‘The problem Child’ was not going to fight legit fighters, who had a chance at beating him after the Fury experience and chose to pick on older, retired fighters. This does not mean that the UFC boss was any less concerned with Tyson’s advanced age.
Tyson-Paul wrong under ‘any circumstances,’ according to White
Dana White felt that given the age differential between the two men, Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul shouldn’t have been made at all in the first place. “When this fight happens, Tyson will be 58 f***ing years. Under any circumstances a f***ing almost 60-year-old man shouldn’t be fighting a 27-year-old f***ing guy. Under any circumstances even if it’s Mike Tyson,” White told the hosts.
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White also recalled how Tyson was thinking of fighting a few years ago, and has spoken to the Power Slap founder about it. Thinking it was not a good idea for the cultural icon to fight in his fifties, White had gotten Tyson a guest presenter gig on Discovery’s massively popular show ‘Shark Week’.
However, the former champion was not happy at it, and had even called out White for getting him a job where he would be required to literally swim with sharks. But White was not quick enough this time around, and couldn’t stop Tyson from agreeing to fight Paul in a boxing match, nearly two decades after his retirement.