With just over a week until Mike Tyson returns to the professional boxing arena for the first time in two decades, Katie Taylor just hopes everyone goes home happy, healthy and wealthy.
Former world heavyweight champion Tyson, 58, will fight Jake Paul across eight rounds inside the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Friday, November 15 in a bout expected to be among the most watched prizefights in history given that it is being broadcast on the streaming service Netflix with no additional charge to subscribers.
However, much of the lead-in to the contest has been centred around the ethics of having Tyson take on a boxing three decades his junior in Paul — particularly after their originally scheduled date this past summer was delayed after Tyson experienced a medical issue on a flight from Florida to California.
And Katie Taylor, the Irish woman who is the undisputed lightweight and super lightweight champion who rematches seven-weight world champ Amanda Serrano on the same card, is hoping that Tyson’s bout proceeds without any issue for either fighter.
“Yeah, there are obviously concerns there,” Taylor told talkSPORT of the Tyson-Paul fight. “I don’t want to see him getting hurt.
“As an icon of the sport, I have so much respect for Mike Tyson as a fighter and what he has done for the sport,” Olympic champion Taylor added.
“He’s in there against a real young, fresh guy in Jake Paul and he’s a good athlete as well. But Mike Tyson seems to be very confident in himself. He seems to be putting the work in and training hard so I hope he comes out on top.
“But we will see what happens. That is what makes this such an amazing spectacle, you don’t know what is going to happen in this fight so everybody is going to be tuning in and it’s going to be very interesting.”
And as for who might win, Taylor made no bones about who she is rooting for.
“I don’t know, I really hope Mike Tyson pulls it off but Jake Paul is a young man, he is fresh, he’s a good athlete, he seems to punch OK so I have no idea. But, then again, I don’t know how good Jake Paul takes a shot, I don’t know how good his chin is.
“Mike Tyson can catch anyone with a good shot so it’s going to be very interesting. I’m obviously rooting for Mike Tyson.”
