Roy Jones Reflects On Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson

11/21/2024 11:49 AM

The Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight has now came and gone and a boxing legend has taken stock.

Now that the dust has settled former Tyson opponent Roy Jones has time to think about the whole thing.

Speaking to Andre Ward on All The Smoke Podcast he said:

“First of all, my hat goes off to him for going eight rounds with anybody—absolutely, period. You understand me? I mean, a 58-year-old going eight rounds? I don’t care if they’re two minutes, three minutes— a 58-year-old going eight rounds is out of this world, number one. Number two, there are things he could have done a little bit more or a little bit better if he was really trying, but at the same time, what people don’t understand is that Jake has a really good straight right hand, a good overhand right, and a good right uppercut. So when you try to throw your uppercut, especially a right uppercut at 58 years old, you really expose yourself to being hit with his right hand or his overhand right, which are the best two punches he’s got.

So, in Mike’s defense, why would I go out there and throw uppercuts at 58 years old when I know that will open me up for a shot that might end my night with humiliation and embarrassment? Why would I do that? You know what I’m saying? I understand what people are saying, but from a boxing standpoint, you’ve got to recognize those punches. If you’re throwing a right uppercut at 58 against a young guy, it’s probably going to expose you more than you want to be exposed.

Now, I would agree. You were the last person to fight him in the last 20 years—what did you see different in his fight against you compared to his fight against Paul?

The first thing I noticed immediately, as I pointed out during the broadcast, was that his legs didn’t look the same as when he fought me. I’m not saying anything bad about that; I don’t know if he had a knee injury or something. He may have had a knee issue, but I’m not sure. I wasn’t making a bad comment about it—I just said his legs didn’t look the same. Sometimes four years can take a toll on a guy, or maybe there was an injury we don’t know about. As Mike said, he’s been through so much and nearly died, so anything could have happened. But I can promise you, his legs were not the same. Because of that, he couldn’t attack as freely or as often as he did when he fought me. He was attacking me all night long. Had he been the same person, he definitely would’ve peaked.

But because of either the injury or whatever was going on with his legs, something wasn’t right. And like I said, I hear my broadcast partner, I hear what he’s saying, but even if you look back at old Mike Tyson fights, I always saw him with his hands up, but I never saw him biting the thumb of his glove. This time, he was biting the thumb of his glove. He never did that when I fought him. So I hear what they’re saying, but something was definitely going on with him—either he was frustrated because he couldn’t do what he wanted to because of his legs, or something else. I don’t know exactly what it was, but there was definitely something.

I agree. I hit up my group chat with my buddies after the first round and said, “I don’t like the way Mike’s legs look.” He just didn’t look sturdy. But I think we both agree overall this was a huge win for Mike. It brought together two different demographics—the ‘80s and ‘90s fans who love Mike and revere him as one of the greatest of all time, and Jake, who was able to bring in this newer, internet generation that may not have known Mike’s history. But after this, they probably went back and looked up his career and saw what he’s done for the sport of boxing and all his greatness. So, overall, the night was a win.

I think the atmosphere was electric. Netflix really rolled out the red carpet from start to finish—from the airport to the hotel. Once we got there, we were sitting in the first few rows, and everything was free—drinks, food, whatever you needed. They spared no expense.

As someone who’s obviously boxed in big arenas and been to fights, how does this rank in terms of energy and atmosphere compared to other events you’ve been to?

It ranks very high for me, probably even at the top. You’ve got to think about it—what Jake did was essentially allow Mike Tyson to be exposed to the social media frenzy that’s going on now. You know, you, me, and Mike, we came up before all this social media took over. But now, with social media, Jake gave Mike the chance to experience that and benefit from it, and that was beautiful. Had it not been for that, Mike would have missed it like the rest of us did. But because Mike was so great in his prime, he was able to come back and still generate that kind of attention for a fight, based on his past greatness. That’s pretty big. I mean, what 58-year-old is going to make $20 million in just 16 minutes of fight time?

But I also want to congratulate Jake and his promotion team. What they’ve done is amazing. We had a meeting with some YouTube guys before the fight who were trying to help us get our stuff together. They said, “The Paul brothers are great at breaking the internet,” and that’s exactly what they did. They crashed Netflix a few times, and this has been the most talked-about event in the past few days.

But the opportunity he gave Mike and the platform he’s giving these women to continue to grow the sport— as a legend yourself, do you respect what he’s doing?

My hat goes off to him from the start because I understood it and saw the vision. And I respect him even more every day because each and every day he does something not just for himself, but to help others. He’s helping women get the paydays they deserve, and that’s a beautiful thing. For him to give those women the opportunity, and to give Mike Tyson that chance—it’s incredible. That’s what life should be about: getting it, bringing it, and sharing it with others. Jake is doing exactly what a person of his caliber should be doing—if you can get it, share it with those who deserve it. And those women deserve it more than anyone. For him to give them that opportunity, and to give Mike Tyson that opportunity—it’s a beautiful thing.”

Always insightful, honest and spot on from Jones.

Tyson did well and can now retire and sail into the sunset.

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