Mike Tyson’s former sparring partner, Joe Egan, has expressed a belief that the 58-year-old’s upcoming fight with Jake Paul will be like a ‘glorified sparring session’.
Both men have pledged to take the bout, which is being classed as a professional showdown, extremely seriously.
Paul will enter the clash on a high after his recent win over Mike Perry.
As for Tyson, the boxing icon is set to take part in his first fight since his draw with Roy Jones Jr in 2020.
Boxing news: Mike Tyson and Jake Paul will do battle on November 20
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Egan, speaking to talkSPORT, can’t see Tyson and Paul going at each other with everything they’ve got.
Tyson’s old sparring partner instead feels the showdown will play out like a ‘glorified sparring session’ because Iron Mike has ‘mellowed’ with age.
“Jake Paul has probably boxed as Mike Tyson on Nintendo and Gameboy a million times, and now he’s getting to share the ring with one of the greatest heavyweight champions of all time,” he said.
“For me, it’s going to be a glorified sparring session.
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“When Mike boxed Roy Jones Jr he hit Roy with a body shot and sunk him – and Mike knew he could hurt Roy Jones.
“Anybody that Mike hits is going to hurt, probably knockout as well but he carried Roy Jones.
“I never believed Mike Tyson could carry anybody because when I sparred him at Catskill, every punch he threw was with bad intentions. He was a vicious, ferocious, savage heavyweight.
“To see him mellow with age is wonderful and to see what he did with Roy Jones is incredible.
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“Jake Paul was on that undercard and when he saw Mike pull his punches they probably felt confident.
“You’ve got to admire him for getting in the ring with Mike Tyson but I don’t think Mike will go full force on him.
“I don’t believe that because if Mike went full force on Jake Paul, he could seriously hurt him, never mind about the age.
“Mike will have lost a lot of speed with age but he won’t have lost his power and George Foreman showed that when he knocked out Michael Moorer in the tenth round at 45 years of age.
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Boxing news: Joe Egan used to spar with Mike Tyson and believes his fight with Jake Paul won’t be taken seriously
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“As soon as Michael Moorer slowed down, George knocked him out.
“The power is always going to be there but the speed will diminish.”
During his prime years, Tyson established himself as one of the best heavyweights of all time.
Many fans are hoping he’ll be able to summon the magic of old when he makes his blockbuster return to boxing.
Boxing news: Mike Tyson insists he’s capable of beating Jake Paul despite the huge age gap between the two men
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And Tyson, speaking at a recent press conference, recently defended his decision to go up against a 31 years his junior.
When asked why he was fighting, he said: “Because I can. Who else can do it but me? Who else is he going to fight to make this happen?”
He added: “We’ve just got to listen to the facts. We’ve got a YouTuber fighting the greatest fighter that ever lived.”
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