Mike Tyson has a very Mike Tyson reason why he chose to box Jake Paul: 'Can I be honest?'
When the world found out that former YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul would be boxing the legendary Mike Tyson, the average response was: "Why is that famous boxer fighting that YouTube guy the kids used to watch?"
There was (understandably) quite a bit of confusion about why the 58-year-old Tyson, who hasn't boxed for four years, would fight an upstart like Paul, who is 27 and has been attempting to build a legitimate name for himself in the sport.
Tyson cleared that up in a recent interview with Esquire by Timothy Bella.
"Can I be honest?" Tyson said. "I don't think he can hurt me."
Paul has a 9-1 record, so Tyson might not be 100% right on that one. But there's more to this than Tyson's irrepressible confidence. Bella pointed out that Tyson is an addict, and Tyson said right now he's only addicted to a few things: marijuana, his wife of 15 years telling him he's a good husband, and something left from his old days — glory.
“I’m a glory junkie. I love people thinking about me all day,” he says. “I’d rather live a short life of glory than a long life of obscurity. It’s just who I am.
“This is all I started fighting for — to get all this f***ing status. I’m going to be chasing it for the rest of my life. I know that. I’m never going to get what I want, because I’m one of those gluttons for pain. I can never get enough.”
Fighting a 27-year-old former YouTuber is definitely a way to get that familiar glorious feeling again, but it could also be a way for Tyson to cure his gluttony for pain. Because he could be in for quite a lot of it come November.
The Tyson-Paul match was originally supposed to take place in mid-July, but Tyson had an ulcer flare-up in May, which pushed the bout back to November. Paul is still fighting Saturday, but will be facing former UFC fighter and Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship star Mike Perry.
