Chael Sonnen shared his live reaction to the announcement of Jake Paul fighting Mike Tyson in a boxing match later this year.
Earlier today, the combat sports community was caught off guard when Jake Paul announced the next step in his boxing journey. Instead of facing a fellow prospect, the YouTuber-turned-boxer has agreed to fight 57-year-old Mike Tyson on July 20.
The Netflix-produced boxing match instantly received mixed reactions, with most people concerned for Tyson. When it comes to Chael Sonnen, he has predicted a win for Paul but believes ‘Iron’ can keep up despite the drastic age difference.
Sonnen was doing an interview with Patrick Bet-David when he was informed of Paul vs. Tyson. ‘The American Gangster’ reacted by saying:
“I was with Mike Tyson one week ago in Saudi Arabia…The first thing I thought is how lean he was. He’s opened a gym in Saudi Arabia. I thought they attached his name to it, and he’s really out smoking weed all day. Francis Ngannou was claiming he’s training him. Mike is allegedly at that gym on a regular basis. I can’t confirm any of that, but this is the story they told one week ago and now all of a sudden you see this announcement. Jake will beat him, but yeah, Mike can go with him. Jake is the real deal.”
Although nothing has been confirmed, Paul vs. Tyson is expected to be an exhibition boxing match. While talking to Patrick Bet-David, Chael Sonnen labeled exhibition bouts as a “new scam”:
“They have this new scam where they are calling it an exhibition. They are selling tickets to an exhibition as opposed to a fight. The difference is, it looks the same on TV. The commission that oversaw your other fights, even your co-main event, gets up and goes in the back, they’ve now clocked out for the night. You have three other judges that are not licensed or real judges and then you have an announcer just say the conclusion they came to.”
It’s JAKE PAUL vs. MIKE TYSON — yes, really! — in a LIVE BOXING event at AT&T Stadium you won’t want to miss. Airing live on Netflix Saturday, July 20 #PaulTyson pic.twitter.com/ULXVeCYeH6
— Netflix (@netflix) March 7, 2024
Chael Sonnen questions why Mike Tyson is fighting Jake Paul
In November 2020, Mike Tyson fought Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition boxing match that ended in a draw. Although the result was disappointing, most people were impressed by Tyson’s performance at 54 years old. As a result, ‘Iron’ was offered several more fights, including $20 million to face Evander Holyfield.
Tyson turned down the massive paydays as he seemed committed to officially retiring from fighting. During the previously mentioned interview with Patrick Bet-David, Chael Sonnen questioned why ‘Iron’ wanted to fight again after turning down other offers:
“I have Jake Paul [winning], but I will tell you, I’m fascinated by the Mike Tyson story. I thought he looked pretty good against Roy Jones…To quite know where Mike is, is a little bit tough. Which brings you to, why is Mike doing it? When he fought Roy, he got a very good payday.”
Sonnen also revealed he was offered a fight against Tyson:
“I then got offer a fight with Mike in Abu Dhabi. They were going to pay me two million dollars, which is a ton. I’ve never boxed before, but I got to fight Mike. They were going to pay him twelve million dollars. We had a LOY and everything is going behind the scenes and his wife pulled it and said, ‘Nope, he’s never going to fight again.’”
The specific details of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson outside of the date and streaming platform haven’t been revealed. With that said, there has been plenty of interest from the combat sports community, regardless of if it’s positive or negative.
Watch Sonnen’s full reaction to Paul vs. Tyson below:
