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via Imago

via Imago

Mike Tyson, at the age of 57 and almost two decades after his retirement, will fight Jake Paul on March 20 in Arlington, Texas. The announcement of their fight elicited widespread criticism of Paul from fans on account of the former Disney star being three decades Tyson’s junior and in his athletic prime.

Most fans feel that the former heavyweight champion has no chance in the fight due to the age difference between them and Tyson’s bevy of health issues, which he spoke about on his ‘Hotboxin’ Podcast. However, Joe Rogan, one of Tyson’s biggest fans, feels the retired boxer can still be a significant challenge for ‘The Problem Child’.

Joe Rogan warns Jake Paul against fighting Mike Tyson

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In April last year, Joe Rogan had WWE icon Ric Flair on for episode #1974 of his JRE podcast, where the duo discussed, among things, the Paul brothers. Logan Paul has become a staple of the WWE and is one of its most popular stars at the moment. Rogan and Flair agreed that he was a talented athlete and had a bright future ahead of him.

Rogan also complemented his younger brother, Jake Paul, who has been one of the pioneers of the recent celebrity boxing fad, and felt he was a legit boxer despite what critics say. “I always tell people just forget that Jake Paul is a YouTube guy and watch him box, the kid can fight” Rogan told Flair.

Ric Flair pointed out that ‘The Problem Child’ had been talking about wanting to face Mike Tyson, which exasperated Rogan. The UFC commentator revealed that Mike Tyson still trained every day and still had the devastating power he was famous for. He felt that despite his advanced age, ‘Iron’ could “f*uck” Paul up.

“No. Why? I don’t give a sh** if he’s [Mike Tyson’s] 55. That’s still Mike. Mike’s in good shape too, he, like trains everyday. He trains with Rafael Cordero who’s a legend in MMA, he runs King’s Mixed Martial Arts and Rafael is a world-renowned trainer. When you see him holding the mitts for Tyson and Tyson’s smashing the mitts, like Jesus, that guy can still f**k you up,” Rogan said.

Jake Paul’s brother, Logan however is of a different opinion.

Logan Paul thinks Tyson is ‘old’ and ‘senile’

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After the announcement of the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight, Logan Paul spoke about the bout in rather unflattering terms and echoed fan sentiment about the fight. Logan claimed that he had been offered the fight before Jake albeit for a significantly lower purse than his brother is fighting Tyson for.

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Logan called Tyson “old” and “senile” and felt the New York native didn’t stand a chance. This elicited a strong response from Jake, who trashed Logan and claimed the WWE star was “blatantly lying” about being offered the Tyson fight first and said that he was tired of being “little bro-ed” by Logan.

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However, Rogan seems to think that Tyson, with the experiences he has accrued in his long and distinguished boxing career, along with his legendary power would be a real threat to Jake Paul despite their age difference since he could use the marvels of modern medicine to turn the clock back a bit for a fight with Paul. While Tyson didn’t look too rusty in his exhibition fight with Roy Jones Jr. four years ago, how he will fare against Jake is totally uncertain. And there is only one way to find out.

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