Fans tuning in to Wednesday’s press conference for Friday’s highly-anticipated fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul hoping for fiery words were certainly left disappointed. While Paul tried to bait Tyson into trash talk, Tyson had almost nothing to say to his opponent or in response to any media questions.
Tyson seemed largely disinterested in speaking, refusing at almost every turn to speak. Paul, meanwhile was up to his usual tricks, even if Tyson wasn’t there to play the verbal game.
“It’s cute, you know,” Paul said at one point. “I fear no man. I want him to be that old savage mike. He says he’s going to kill me, is that what you’re going to do? … I want there to be no excuses when I knock him out. Is that what you’re going to do?”
Tyson had nothing to say in response, despite previously saying that he is a “natural-born killer” while Paul is manufactured.
“I’m just ready,” was Tyson’s only response.
Pushed on his refusal to give answers as the press conference wore on, Tyson explained, “I’m just ready to fight. I’ve said everything I have wanted to say. There’s nothing left to say. I’m just looking forward to fighting.”
Paul continued to try and force Tyson to return verbal fire along with saying Tyson was being “pretty f—ing boring,” claiming the only good thing he could say about his opponent is that he would look good in the pictures where he was lying on the canvas after being knocked out.
Press conference host Ariel Helwani ended the ceremonies by asking the fighters on stage to make their prediction for the fight, with the majority picking Tyson to emerge as the winner. This led to Paul’s final outburst of the festivities as he walked fighter to fighter asking them to make bets over their predictions.
“I love it,” Paul said. “Hey, when I see dumb people saying dumb predictions, I just feel bad for them. Who wants to bet on it?”
