There are plenty of narratives surrounding the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight Friday night, but Ryan Clark may have offered the saddest take.
Clark previewed the huge fight on his The Pivot podcast Friday. He shared what Tyson represented to him in his youth, but also discussed one of the boxing legend’s motivations for the fight.
“The one thing that struck me was, Mike Tyson said, ‘To my kids, I’m nobody, but on this night they’ll find out I’m very special,'” Clark said. “And I think it made me sad, and it also made me happy for him in a way. Because the way that our kids believe we are somebody is not by what we do. … it’s about how present we are, it’s about how available we are. It’s about how we show in their lives every day.”
Tyson is now 58, well past his world heavyweight championship days that saw him post a 50-6 record with 44 knockouts. The 27-year-old Paul, who rose to fame as a social media influencer, is 10-1 with seven KOs.
Clark, who is 45, said he’s not near the athlete he was even at age 40, but he hopes Tyson can turn back the clock and show a glimpse of the man who struck fear in opponents in the late 1980s.
“He’s thinking about this opportunity that Jake Paul and Most Valuable Productions are pretty much just giving him to say, ‘Hey man, watch how all of these people feel about me,'” Clark said. “Because that’s why we’re going to watch. That’s why we’re going to show up.
“My biggest thing is, can we get a glimpse of that Mike? … Can he grab a piece of that? Because if he grabs a piece of that at any point tonight, it will lock us in so much, because we’ll know if he touches Jake Paul, he’ll put him to sleep. And if he puts Jake Paul to sleep, all of it’s over for [Paul]. You’ll never watch a fight, you’ll never get another big promotion. So to me, there is a level of pressure in doing this tonight that excites me.”
A number of sports media pros who grew up during Tyson’s prime expressed sentiments for the fighter Friday. Good Morning Football host Kyle Brandt posted a tribute on X saying Tyson “terrified” him as a kid.
“For some of us, Mike Tyson represents something special. We’re in his corner tonight,” Brandt posted. “In the 80s I wasn’t afraid of Freddy or Jason. I was terrified of Mike Tyson. But it was fun. I loved it. Jake Paul couldn’t understand that. And I hope Iron Mike destroys him tonight.”
The fight, at AT&T Stadium, will stream exclusively on Netflix. The main card starts at 8 p.m. (ET). Tyson and Paul are expected to enter the ring around 11 p.m. Tyson already got the first blow in, slapping Paul at the weigh-in Thursday.
[Ryan Clark, The Pivot]