Mike Tyson will return to the boxing ring on July 20 to face YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul. While some people are concerned for the icon, others are anticipating him to win, given that he was one of the most ferocious boxers ever. Nevertheless, MMA legend Chael Sonnen claims that there could be one factor that could see Tyson face defeat against Paul.
The fight against Jake Paul will be Mike Tyson’s first boxing match in over four years. He recently appeared in an interview with ‘Fox‘, where he talked about the upcoming fight, which will stream live on ‘Netflix.‘ This was the subject of analysis for Chael Sonnen in his recent YouTube video.
Chael Sonnen expresses concern for the diminishing abilities of Mike Tyson
Chael Sonnen mentioned that trying to explain why Mike Tyson decided to get back into action in his late 50s may not be an easy task for him. However, his recent interview saw him talk about the fight without talking about his preparation for the fight. On the other hand, Sonnen pointed out how other fights who have fought way past their prime talk about the size difference, and experience because they might have lost their ability to hit hard due to age.
“Mike Tyson answered it [during a recent interview] without speaking about himself, speaking about his training. A number of guys would simply say, ‘I’ve got far more experience than he [Jake Paul] does. I’m bigger than he is. Last thing to go is our power,’” said Chael Sonnen. However, Mike Tyson did not talk about any of the aforementioned factors, because admitting that he lost his power, something that he was famous for, could see him have a disadvantage against Jake Paul.
“Last thing to go is our power’ is terribly problematic because you’re now admitting that’s now a concession that everything else is gone… It’s just a weird thing,” ‘The American Gangster’ added. Nevertheless, Sonnen has an explanation as to why Tyson did not open up too much about the fact that he’s nearing his 60s during the recent interview, and it was because of his pride.
Tyson’s a proud man, claims Sonnen
When asked why Mike Tyson considered returning to fight, the former world champion claimed that he was there because people still wanted to see him fight and he’s selling tickets because of it. This is not the case for many of the other boxers around his age, which Chael Sonnen claims is a fair point. He added, “Mike Tyson said, ‘I can draw, I can sell tickets. I’m sitting here with you right now. Nobody else from my time, nobody else 60 years old, regardless of sport, has been invited in your studio.’ It’s a great point. It’s true. It was all true and Mike Tyson does have pride.”
It’s because of his pride that Chael Sonnen believes Mike Tyson is back in the squared circle. While other opponents of Jake Paul have expressed how the fight doesn’t mean much to them, ‘Iron’ did not say anything of that sort. That is what Sonnen believes distinguishes Tyson from the rest. “Pride is what going to make you try… make you care. You’ll hear people say ‘I don’t care’ about a number of things… but the ones that really mean it, the one that’s true, they don’t care because they don’t have pride because it doesn’t matter to them and we would not assign that title to Mike Tyson,” ‘The American Gangster’ added.
Although Mike Tyson will be 58 when he fights Jake Paul, many people are rooting for the youngest world champion to finally put an end to ‘The Problem Child’s boxing endeavor.
