Eddie Hearn will not be watching next month’s Texas showdown between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul.
Tyson, 58, will walk to the ring for a professional contest for the first time in two decades on Friday, November 15th in Arlington where he will take on Jake Paul in an eight-round main event bout which is expected to draw one of the biggest combat sports audiences in history, given the fact that the event is being broadcast live on the Netflix streaming service.
But one man who won’t be among the viewers is Eddie Hearn, who has reiterated his stance on what he sees as irresponsible matchmaking.
“The reality is that 20 years ago when Mike Tyson retired from the sport he was shot, completely finished,” Hearn said in comments to BBC Sport. “It was actually sad to watch then, 20 years ago.”
Tyson has lived much of his life in the boxing spotlight. The native of Brooklyn, New York became the youngest-ever heavyweight champion in 1986 when he defeated Trevor Berbick at the age of 20, and became the first boxer to hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles just a year later.
“I’m in awe of him. He’s one of my favourite ever fighters, one of the greatest of all time — but he’s a 58-year-old man,” Hearn said. “You only need to speak to him and look at him to know this guy should not be in a ring again.
“If I was Jake Paul I’d just feel a little bit embarrassed to be honest with you,” Hearn added. “This is dangerous, irresponsible and, in my opinion, disrespectful to the sport of boxing.”
“Everybody loves a dollar bill, including me, but sometimes the green-eyed monster can make you some bad decisions – and I think this is one of them.”
Hearn will be attendance in Texas for the fight next month, given that his fighter Katie Taylor will rematch Amanda Serrano on the card, but once that is over Hearn says he will be heading for the exit door.
“We received a massive offer for Katie. I’m not going to tell her she’s not allowed to fight on that card,” he said. “Financially it’s the biggest purse of her career.
“I won’t be watching the main event. We’ll be there defending the belts, and then I’ll be off.”
