Mike Tyson finds himself in territory he probably never expected: an underdog in a boxing match against a social media star. However, he says he’s “fine with” that.
In a fight between one of the greatest boxers of all time and someone who got his fame through YouTube, social media and Disney Channel, the latter is the betting favorite.
Odds currently have 27-year-old Jake Paul as the favorite over Mike Tyson, 58, for their long-awaited Friday night fight in Dallas.
Of course, Paul is fresh, with this being his third fight of the year. He is also 29 years Tyson’s junior. Tyson, meanwhile, has not had a professional fight since 2005; his bout with Roy Jones four years ago was an exhibition.
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Tyson was mostly mellow and short-winded in the final Paul-Tyson press conference on Wednesday – the polar opposite of his opponent, who even took bets with those on the card, including co-main evener Katie Taylor. The most amped up Tyson got at the final Paul-Tyson press conference on Wednesday was when he said emphatically, “I’m not gonna lose.” Other than that, he was very short, but not so sweet.
His confidence is understandable – any training video Tyson puts out, he seems awfully dangerous, especially for someone nearing 60. The odds, though, seem to be disrespecting him.
However, Tyson does not seem to mind that too much.
When asked by Fox News Digital how disrespected he felt at the unfavorable odds and why he thought he was the underdog, his response, as usual, was short.
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“I’m fine with everything – I’m fine with everything,” Tyson said in typical Tyson fashion.
Admittedly, DraftKings Director of Sports Operations Johnny Avello said the lines are more disrespect to Tyson, who is at around +160 with Paul at -200.
“He didn’t even look that good at the end of his career – he was struggling with no-name guys. Here he is now at 58 years old – he looks good, I think he’s in fairly good shape, but it’s one thing to be in good shape; it’s another thing to be in fighting shape,” Avello said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
“Paul’s not known for being a great fighter, whereas Tyson is. So I would say it’s more disrespect.”
Avello also said it was difficult to come up with necessarily fair odds when one half of the main event does not have much of a recent sample to base anything off of.
“We were all over the map on this, thinking with what [the odds] should have been,” Avello said.
However, despite several six-figure wagers on Paul, Avello noted that nearly 70% of the money is on Tyson for numerous reasons – Tyson fandom plus Paul hatred being one of them.
It is on track to be the most wagered-on fight of the year. One popular bet people are taking is Tyson, with his power, to win in the first round at 22-1.
“That has taken a large amount of money,” Avello said. “The liability can build up rather quickly.”
We’ll take Tyson at his word when he says he’s “fine” with being the underdog – but it’s no question that he will definitely be fine if that bet comes to fruition.
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