"They could get together and set this up" - Teddy Atlas questions whether a Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight would be fixed
Teddy Atlas has weighed in on the rumored fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson.
The legendary boxing trainer suggested that given Paul and Tyson’s massive fan bases and the tremendous revenue their fight would generate, the fight could potentially be rigged. Speaking to co-host Ken Rideout on The Fight with Teddy Atlas podcast, Atlas stated:
“With all that money at stake – and it is entertainment and it is about capturing the people’s imagination and it is a bit of a circus. With all of that, is it impossible to think of the possibility, Ken, that they could get together and set this up?”
My boxing bucket list:
1) Canelo Alvarez
2) Floyd Mayweather
3) Mike Tyson
4) Tyson Furry
5) Dana White
Atlas did, however, clarify that he’s unaware of any suggestion or evidence that the fight would indeed be fixed. Noting that he’s simply addressing the possibility of it being rigged, he continued:
“I don’t know anything; other than, I know the possibilities that are out there. I know human nature. I know it wouldn’t be the first time that somebody got together with somebody else to make a lot of money and said, ‘Hey, this is what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna go in there. We’re gonna get the contract signed. We’re gonna promote the cr** out of this. We’re gonna build it up. We’re gonna make a ton of freakin’ money. But we’re not gonna hurt each other.’ Would that be impossible to be a possible scenario with everything that this is about? With the environment; with all the circumstances of this?”
Atlas indicated that we’re in a different place socially today, adding that fans now crave a quick fix of entertainment, which is what Paul vs. Tyson would be.
Watch the full episode of The Fight with Teddy Atlas below:
Mike Tyson’s representative has shot down rumors of a fight against Jake Paul
Mike Tyson hasn’t competed in a professional boxing bout since June 2005. The 55-year-old last entered the ring for an exhibition match against Roy Jones Jr. in November 2020.
Meanwhile, 25-year-old YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul has consistently maintained that he’s focused on his professional boxing career, rather than exhibition matchups. The Cleveland native is currently 5-0 in the sport.
Furthermore, as reported by Forbes, Tyson’s representative Jo Mignano recently addressed the rumors of him fighting ‘The Problem Child’ Jake Paul and his older brother Logan Paul. Mignano noted that these claims were “totally false.”
He added that Tyson “thinks the Paul brothers are great" but isn't willing to fight them.
Additionally, taking to Twitter, Tyson himself indicated that Jake Paul “never mentioned” a possible boxing match between them during a recent meeting.
This is new to me. I saw Jake in St. Barths and he never mentioned it. twitter.com/sunboxing/stat…