Jake Paul believes Mike Tyson is avoiding a fight with him over concerns that he would knock out the YouTube star.
Paul is currently preparing to face Hasim Rahman Jr at Madison Square Garden next month but had indicated previously that he would like to set up a bout of some description with Tyson. The pair are friends, becoming close when they shared the card for the former heavyweight champion's comeback fight with Roy Jones Jr in 2020.
That night, the pair combined to sell a monstrous 1.8million pay-per-views, and have maintained a close bond in the years that have followed. But rumours continue to swirl about the duo eventually joining forces for another major PPV, this time as opponents.
However, Paul thinks Tyson is afraid of hurting him, telling comedian Andrew Schulz and his co-hosts on the Flagrant podcast that those concerns may be stopping the fight. Asked if he would 'f*** up' the legendary heavyweight, Paul responded: "I don't know if I would use those words, but I would win. I'm serious as a heart attack, it's delusional optimism which is a real super-power.
"I want to start off by saying I love Mike Tyson. I love him, his family, he's such a great guy, a wise man who has taken me under his wing. I owe him a ton of credit for helping me start my career with the Nate Robinson fight on his undercard.
"I think he thinks that he would knock me out, and I think that's maybe the reason why he doesn't want to do the fight. I think he wants to avoid maybe knocking me out, hurting me.
"[If he knew how good I was], maybe the fight would happen. Maybe him watching this fight will help, and I think there's a very very high chance that [I knock him out].
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"He's not the same fighter that he once was and he knows that, I think it's a great fight for that exact reason. Me boxing on the outside, him coming forward trying to knock me out. I've got one-punch power, he's obviously got that one-punch power, who wins?"
Instead, Paul will take a massive step up in competition when he faces the 6'3", 31-year-old Hasim Rahman Jr, who is 12-1 as a professional. He was due to face 8-0 Tommy Fury, but had to switch direction when the Brit was banned from flying to America for the fight.
He has never faced a boxer bigger than him before, nor anybody who had a professional fight prior to agreeing to their bout. He has previously beaten UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, Bellator MMA champion Ben Askren, basketball star Nate Robinson and YouTuber AnEsonGib.
