- Mike Tyson and Jake Paul traded insults at a press conference Thursday night.
- Former heavyweight champion said YouTuber once gave him ‘a boner’
- DailyMail.com provides the latest international sports news.
Mike Tyson has bizarrely claimed that Jake Paul once gave him “a boner” when he watched a video of the YouTuber-turned-boxer dancing when he was 16.
The pair traded insults and expletives in Texas on Thursday night while previewing their fight near the Dallas Cowboys’ 80,000-seat home that will host it.
But the press conference took a strange turn when Paul initially said he wanted to “kiss Mike’s big, juicy lips.”
The moderator then turned to Tyson for a response and the 57-year-old made a jaw-dropping claim.
In response, the former world heavyweight champion said: ‘Did he want to kiss me?
Mike Tyson has bizarrely claimed that Jake Paul once gave him ‘a boner’ when he was just 16.
The pair exchanged insults and expletives in Texas on Thursday night while previewing their fight.
“It’s so ironic that he said that because I saw pictures of him dancing at 16, doing that little dance on YouTube and for some reason I got a boner.”
Paul was unmoved by the comment, but it provoked an uncomfortable response from the thousands of fans who had gathered for the event.
Paul continued to play down the suggestion that he has yet to have a legitimate opponent, while Tyson simply refused to answer a question about his age.
The former heavyweight champion will turn 58 on July 20, when the fight is scheduled for AT&T Stadium.
‘I don’t see many people critical of it. Look at this,” Tyson said, pointing to the rowdy crowd at an entertainment venue near the fight site.
When a journalist suggested there were critics, Tyson said: ‘Who? Name me someone. You? WHO?’
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation is sanctioning the fight as a professional fight, but it will be eight two-minute rounds instead of 10 or 12 three-minute rounds. The gloves will be heavier (14 ounces instead of 10), which is supposed to reduce the power of the punches.
Tyson retired in 2005, but most recently fought in an exhibition in November 2000 against Roy Jones in California, which would not declare it a professional fight.
Tyson was mostly upset by the scene and the questions, even when asked what it meant to have the opportunity to fill AT&T Stadium.
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation sanctions it as a professional fight
Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano co-main event in a rematch of their 2022 fight
“I was doing this years ago, so it’s nothing new to me,” said Tyson, who won 50 fights with 44 knockouts before retiring. “This is new for this young man here.”
Entering amid loud boos, Paul responded with foul language and derogatory gestures, then cheered him on and led an expletive-laden chant directed at him by the pro-Tyson crowd.
“I hope everyone keeps the same energy when I knock this old guy out,” Paul said.
Paul has nine wins in 10 fights, three since his only loss to Tommy Fury, the young half-brother of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. One of his recent wins was in nearby Dallas against former UFC fighter Nate Diaz.
“In due time, I will fight for a world championship,” Paul said to the suggestion that he has not fought a legitimate opponent, which also drew Tyson’s ire. “And I’ll make you eat your own words.”
Netflix is streaming the fight live, a first for the streaming platform. Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano co-main event in a rematch of their fight at Madison Square Garden two years ago.
Paul built a large following as a YouTube influencer before embarking on a professional boxing career four years ago. Tyson was the undisputed world heavyweight champion from 1987 to 1990.
“I respect Mike,” Paul said. ‘But it’s time. It’s my time now. “I will be the man who took down Mike Tyson for the last time.”
