Former UFC Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley believes the Nov. 15 boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson is a “very even fight,” per comments made to TMZ Sports.
“I think it’s an even fight because of the age of Mike Tyson,” Woodley began.
“He’s completely obviously out of his prime. When in his prime, most of his fights were almost attempted murder. So literally, Jake wouldn’t have stood a chance. Nobody would even commission or sanction a fight of him against Mike Tyson. And Jake’s always on a win-win situation. He’s fighting guys that if he lose, you lost to this guy. You lost to Tyron. You lost to Anderson Silva. You lost to Nate Diaz. So he’s always in a position where if he wins, he goes up, if he loses, it’s like, OK, he took a risk, he took a chance. So I like the fight.”
At 58 years old, Tyson is well out of his prime, as Woodley said. His last professional fight was in June 2005. He did face Roy Jones Jr. in an eight-round exhibition four years ago, and that ended in a split decision.
In his prime, Tyson was the scariest fighter in the world, serving as boxing’s undisputed heavyweight champion from 1987-1990. At one point in his career, Tyson was 37-0 with 33 knockouts. He finished his time in the ring with a 50-6 record (two no-contests).
The 27-year-old Paul, a YouTuber and social media star, has fought 11 times professionally, going 10-1 with seven knockouts. He’s notably fought (and beaten) Woodley in the past, earning an eight-round split decision win before knocking him out in the sixth round in a rematch. Paul has fared well against ex-MMA stars, beating Anderson Silva, Nate Diaz and Ben Askren as well.
The latest DraftKings Sportsbook odds have Paul as a -275 favorite, giving him 73.33 percent implied odds to win, per Action Network. In the end, the age gap might be too much for Tyson to overcome, but the ex-champ was one of the most skilled and powerful fighters ever once upon a time, so he can’t be discounted here.
