Irving, Texas – In a fight between one of the greatest boxers of all time and a man who rose to fame through YouTube, social media and the Disney Channel, the latter will be the betting favorite.
The odds currently place 27-year-old Jake Paul as the favorite over 58-year-old Mike Tyson for Friday night’s much-anticipated fight in Dallas.
Of course, Paul is fresh because it’s his third game this year. He is also 29 years younger than Tyson. Tyson, on the other hand, hasn’t fought professionally since 2005. The fight against Roy Jones four years ago was an exhibition.
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Jake Paul (right) and Mike Tyson pose after the final press conference for their heavyweight bout at Toyota Music Factory on November 13, 2024 in Irving, Texas. (Ed Mulholland/Getty Images)
At the final press conference for Paul vs. Tyson on Wednesday, Tyson was mostly calm and impatient. She even placed bets with players on the card, including co-main even Katie Taylor, who was the exact opposite of her opponent. The most exciting part of Paul vs. Tyson’s final press conference on Wednesday was when Tyson emphatically said, “I’m not going to lose.” Other than that, he was very short, but not very sweet.
His confidence is understandable. All of the training videos that Tyson puts out look extremely dangerous, especially for someone who is almost 60 years old. However, the odds seem to be against him.
But Tyson doesn’t seem to care much about that.
When asked by FOX News Digital how slighted he felt with the odds against him and why he considered himself an underdog, his answer was as usual short.
Mike Tyson speaks at his final press conference ahead of his heavyweight bout against Jake Paul on November 13, 2024 at the Toyota Music Factory in Irving, Texas. (Ed Mulholland/Getty Images)
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“I’m okay with everything, I’m okay with everything,” Tyson said in typical Tyson fashion.
Indeed, DraftKings Director of Sports Operations Johnny Abello said this line is even more disrespectful to Tyson, who is around +160 compared to Paul’s -200.
“Toward the end of his career, he didn’t look that good. He was struggling with the unknown guys. Here he is, 58 years old. He looks good and I think he’s in pretty good shape, but… , it’s one thing to be in good condition and it’s another thing to be in combat condition,” Abello said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
“Paul isn’t known as a great fighter, but Tyson is. So I would say that’s rather disrespectful.”
Abello also said it’s difficult to necessarily come up with fair odds when there aren’t many recent samples to base the main event halves on.
“We thought about everything about this and what (the odds) should be,” Abello said.
However, despite several six-figure bets on Paul, Abello said that nearly 70% of his money is on Tyson for a variety of reasons, and that in addition to being a Tyson fan, He pointed out that hatred of people is one of them.
It is expected to be the highest stakes battle of the year. One popular bet people are taking is that Tyson will win the first round 22-1 with his power.
“It cost a lot of money,” Abello said. “The responsibilities can add up pretty quickly.”
Jake Paul and Mike Tyson (left) pose after the final press conference for their heavyweight bout at Toyota Music Factory on November 13, 2024 in Irving, Texas. (Ed Mulholland/Getty Images)
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We’re going to take Tyson seriously when he says he’s “okay” even if he’s the underdog, but there’s no question that he’ll definitely be okay if that bet comes to fruition.
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