"He will mess up Jake Paul" - Former Warriors guard predicts Mike Tyson to prioritize financial gain over knocking out Jake Paul
Tonight, heavyweight boxing legend Mike Tyson will return to professional competition for the first time since his 2005 loss to Kevin McBride. After the fight, which saw Tyson quit on the stool before the start of the seventh round, the heavyweight legend retired from the sport.
Now, nearly a full 20 years later, Tyson will compete in his first professionally sanctioned bout.
At 58 years old, the odds may be stacked against Tyson given that Father Time is undefeated in combat sports, Gilbert Arenas thinks it isn't in Tyson's financial interest to finish Jake Paul early.
During Friday's episode of "Gil's Arena," he hinted that Tyson's paycheck could hinge on not knocking Paul down or out. Although he didn't clarify the comments, he did say that if Tyson decides to throw caution to the wind, he could seriously mess the YouTuber-turned-celebrity boxer up:
"I've heard sprinkles out there that it's not in Mike Tyson's financial interest to whoop his a** or knock him down. ... You can use 25 ounce gloves. Right. If Tyson wants him gone, he's gone. Just him reacting and hitting. It's a natural reaction for Mike. He will mess up Jake Paul on just natural reaction. ....
"He would knock dude out. He's gonna be going in there just throwing half punches. Like who cares if Mike Tyson loses, right? This is a weird one because if Jake Paul lose, he lost a Mike Tyson, so no one cares. So for someone like Jake Paul, it's easy to say, 'Oh, I'll fight you.'"
"He is a f**king a**hole," - Mike Tyson rips Jake Paul following slap at weigh-ins
While Gilbert Arenas has heard "sprinkles" that it wouldn't be in Mike Tyson's best interest to knock Jake Paul out, Tyson seems to be out for blood. During Thursday's weigh-ins, after both fighters stepped on the scale, they came face-to-face for a staredown.
While doing so, Jake Paul stepped on Tyson's foot. Considering Paul was wearing shoes, and Tyson was in socks, the former heavyweight champ wasn't too happy, and promptly smacked Paul across the face.
After the incident, Tyson went off on Paul while speaking to the New York Post moments later, calling Paul an expletive:
“I was in my socks and he had on shoes,” Tyson told The Post moments after the weigh-in. “He stepped on my toe because he is a f–king a–hole. I wanted to think it happened by accident. But now, I think it may have happened on purpose. I was in a lot of pain. I had to reciprocate.”
While Paul ate the slap without retaliating, it sounds like Mike Tyson is eager to enter the ring tonight and put his hands on Paul, whom he's called a "manufactured killer."
Whether he can turn back the clock and capture a win in his first sanctioned fight in 19 years, only time will tell.