Arum on Paul vs. Tyson: "I Just Hope Nobody Gets Hurt"

In a comment for the YouTube channel BoxNation, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum spoke about the upcoming exhibition match between blogger and boxer Jake Paul (9-1, 6 KOs) and former undisputed champion Mike Tyson.

"I spent some time with Tyson in Riyadh. I've never seen Tyson so calm and well-behaved. He's really a nice person now. And Jake Paul is a nice guy. If this was 20 years ago, this fight would be a joke. There would need to be an ambulance at the arena because Tyson would do to Paul what he did to many opponents – knock him out quickly. At his current age, he's old for an athlete, and the question is whether he still has the muscle response an athlete needs to do what he wants to do. And I don't know if he does. I don't think Jake Paul is the second coming of Muhammad Ali in any way. A good, competitive evening for Jake Paul could be against Tommy Fury. Remember, they fought, and in my opinion, Fury beat him quite easily. Therefore, he's at that level. But again, how can anyone predict what will happen when you're in the ring with a 58-year-old fighter. Great baseball pitchers are only a shadow of themselves after 50. They know the mechanics, but their abilities are gone due to age. I just hope nobody gets hurt. I'm glad Mike will make a lot of money. The fight will not be on PPV. It will be on Netflix, and Netflix is trying to attract sports-loving viewers and also test its ability to attract advertisers. There's no harm in it. Really, no one is being deceived here. People will not be charged 50 pounds or even 25 pounds to watch this. All you need to do is subscribe to Netflix. Netflix has over 100 million subscribers worldwide, so I see no harm in this. I know whoever referees this fight, if he sees Mike having problems because of his age, he will stop the fight. I can't criticize this fight. I think Netflix made a very good move by putting all their money into this event. You have to be relaxed about these things. It's still boxing, guys are still putting on gloves, people are still talking about boxing, even if it's Jake Paul against old Mike Tyson. So, I think it's really good for the sport. But again, that's just my opinion," said Arum.

The match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson will take place on July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The event will be streamed on Netflix. The fight will be exhibition but under the general rules of boxing.