CNN
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Love him or hate him, the world continues to watch Jake Paul, the former YouTuber and Disney star who has taken over social media since his switch to boxing in 2020.

The 27-year-old has amassed a professional record of 10-1, with six wins via knockout. On Friday, Paul steps into the ring for perhaps his most high-profile fight to date against former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.

“I think I’ll knock him out in the fifth or sixth round,” Paul said in an interview with CNN. “I love Mike, but I have business to take care of.”

The pair were originally scheduled to fight in July this year, but it was postponed when Tyson developed an ulcer during a flight.

The main card of Friday’s event at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, kicks off at 8:30 PM ET, with the Tyson vs. Paul fight, which takes place over eight two-minute rounds, expected to start around 11:00 PM ET. The film can be viewed for free with a Netflix subscription.

Although Paul is somewhat favored to win, the martial arts community is divided on the idea of ​​the fight. Firstly, Eddie Hearn, the CEO of Matchroom and one of the biggest promoters in the sport, was highly critical.

“He (Tyson) is 58 years old,” Hearn told Fight Hub TV, adding: “I think it’s very sad, but it’s a big event. I understand people are going to watch it. It’s entertainment, I guess, but for someone who was the man growing up, this wasn’t the best day.”

British promoter Hearn represents boxing superstars Canelo Álvarez, Oleksandr Usyk and Dmitry Bivol. He also represents Katie Taylor, who fights on the undercard for Paul vs. Tyson.

On the other hand, former world heavyweight champion and one of Hearn’s clients, Anthony Joshua, has a very different opinion on the fight.

“Personally, I think it’s really good,” Joshua said on the Jonathan Ross Show. “I think the hardcore boxers, the boxing fanatics, don’t like it because it’s like, ‘Why don’t they respect our sport?’

“Let’s say we split this crowd in half, and you have half the people who are hardcore boxing fans, and half the people who love a certain YouTuber, but that person brings all these people to boxing, which benefits everyone else involved. in the industry,” Joshua continued.

There has also been criticism of Paul because of the age difference with Tyson. At the time of the fight, Tyson will be 31 years older than Paul.

Although Tyson is the more experienced fighter, it has been decades since his reign in the ring. Paul, meanwhile, is entering his physical prime when it comes to age.

Speaking to CNN, the former YouTuber said his dream is to become a world boxing champion, but does fighting Tyson at the age of 58 help or hurt him in that quest?

“I think it helps to get to work there with one of the most ruthless and cruel champions ever and get that experience under my belt,” Paul explained.

“To be able to have a camp and compete there under the bright lights against one of the greatest players ever will only benefit my experience level,” he continued. “As I continue to improve behind the scenes at each camp, the more time I get in the sport, the more lethal I become.”

In his professional career, Tyson was known for his brutal knockouts, winning emphatically against legends such as Michael Spinks and Larry Holmes. His last professional win came in February 2003, when he defeated Clifford Etienne by first-round knockout. His last fight was an exhibition fight against Roy Jones Jr. in November 2020, which ended in a draw.

Tyson has released training videos ahead of the fight against Paul, and despite his age, the former heavyweight champion looks in top form.

“I’m really not (nervous),” Paul said. “I believe in my abilities. I have improved tenfold in all aspects of my playing. I think heavyweights are slow. They don’t have much boxing skills and can’t avoid punches.

“I’ll outbox Mike in there. He’s not going to be able to hit me because I’m not going to sit there like a lot of these heavyweights have done throughout his career and try to trade blows with him.”

Paul repeated some of his criticism of Tyson during Thursday’s weigh-in. As the pair stared at each other, the 58-year-old delivered an open-handed punch that made contact with Paul’s face.

“I didn’t even feel it,” Paul told Ariel Helwani moments later, after the fighters had been separated by security. ‘He’s angry. He’s an angry little elf. Mike Tyson, I thought that was a nice punch, buddy, but tomorrow you’re going to get the fuck knocked out.

Paul is a polarizing figure online, used to receiving both positive and negative reactions to his behavior on social media.

“It drives me. “I love proving people wrong,” he said. “I think sometimes my confidence comes across as arrogant and cocky, this guy thinks he knows everything, but it just comes back to confidence and me believing in myself.

“If you do that in today’s society full of losers and sheep, they will only label you as the bad guy, single you out and like to see you fail,” Paul continued.

“That’s where I became aggressive and received a lot of criticism online. The funny thing about the whole thing is that it never happens in person. Personally, it’s love wherever I go. Thousands of people. Thousands of photos. I literally have nowhere to go.”

Paul was introduced to boxing in an unconventional way, which he said started “as a whole YouTube extravaganza” of people challenging him and his brother Logan. They soon found themselves ‘training like professionals’ in preparation for big fights.

“The feeling of winning in front of 30,000 people saying ‘F*ck Jake Paul’ – it was such an amazing feeling,” Paul said. “I slowly fell in love with the sport.”

In January 2020, Paul entered the ring for his first professional fight, defeating YouTuber Ali Eson Gib by technical knockout. Since his debut, he has defeated retired basketball player Nate Robinson and former MMA legends Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva and Nate Diaz.

In February last year, Paul suffered his first defeat at the hands of Tommy Fury, the younger brother of former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. Although Paul scored a knockdown, Fury defeated him in a split-decision victory.

Paul bounced back from the loss with a unanimous decision victory over retired UFC fighter Diaz. In his past fights he has defeated professional boxers Andre August and Ryan Borland, both by knockout in the first round.

After the postponement of their first fight in July, Paul went on to defeat bare-knuckle boxing champion Mike Perry with a sixth-round TKO.

In addition to his in-ring exploits, Paul has also started his own production company alongside Nakisa Bidarian, who was previously CFO at the UFC. Most Valuable Promotions has since signed one of the biggest names in women’s boxing in Puerto Rican star Amanda Serrano, who will face Irish fighter Taylor in a rematch on Friday.

Serrano was seen by Bidarian as “that perfect vehicle, perfect athlete, perfect superstar in the making” when he signed with Most Valuable Promotions.

“(The company) was really based on three things,” Bidarian told CNN. “One was the mentality of fighters first… Two was wanting to double against women… Third was wanting to give a platform to boxers.”

As for his goals outside of the Tyson fight, Paul wants to fight for a world boxing championship, with the intention of fighting in the cruiserweight division, as well as a match against one of the sport’s biggest stars.

“Becoming world champion (in boxing) is at the top of that list,” he said. “I believe that once I get that belt, Canelo (Álvarez) will want to fight me.

“Just to see the looks on everyone’s faces when I knock Canelo out for the first time in his career, the disappointment from all his fans will be hilarious,” Paul continued. “Then I would retire after that.”

After winning a world boxing championship, Paul plans to use his talents in mixed martial arts. He hopes to become the first combat champion in two sports.

“I want to be the first dual sports champion,” said Paul. “(I want) to move to MMA and get a world championship title in MMA.

“I think it’s so much easier than boxing,” he added. “MMA fighters have terrible cardio, slow tempo, terrible striking and their wrestling is mediocre.”

Come Friday, such bold claims about his boxing career will be put aside for a moment when Paul takes on one of the most fearsome fighters the sport has ever seen.