Is Logan Paul ready to go pro? Mike Tyson asks YouTuber to take on Badou Jack
Boxing legend Mike Tyson is impressed with Logan Paul, so much so that he's already attempting to line up Paul's next fight. That's a sharp cry from Tyson's original prediction of the fight, where he said, "Floyd is going to kill this guy, man." Now, he wants Paul to take on 37-year-old Swedish pro boxer Badou Jack in a sanctioned bout.
The Tyson-Paul saga is one of the many small stories to emerge from the YouTuber's fight with Floyd Mayweather. The dramatic fight in Miami ended in a draw, but to everyone's surprise, Paul managed to last all eight rounds. That led to allegations that the bout was rigged, but it wasn't the only controversy of the day. Earlier, social media had quite a reaction to the rules of the fight, which amongst other things said there would be no judges or official winners.
RELATED ARTICLES
Floyd Mayweather vs Logan Paul: 'Never seen Hard Rock stadium so empty,' say fans
Floyd Mayweather vs Logan Paul: Desus Nice and Kid Mero's commentary dubbed 'trash'
The fight also crashed the Showtime server, as millions of users attempted to view the highly-advertised bout. In the meantime though, Hard Rock Stadium in Miami was surprisingly empty, with only a handful of people spotted watching the fight live. Amidst all this, there the Tyson-Paul saga, which seems to have ended on a good note.
Tyson impressed, Paul trolls
The duo appeared to be on opposing ends before the fight. Tyson told Reuters, "Floyd is going to kill this guy, man. Floyd stays in the gym, he's never out of shape. He's going to have so much fun winning this money." A big debate amongst fans is the entry of media personalities like Paul into the sport, which not everyone seems to be ok with. Tyson weighed in on this as well, and appeared to defend Paul's jump into boxing. "Boxing comes from the gutter. So with YouTubers, anything anyone does with gloves on is paying homage to boxing," Tyson said. "Boxing can't go any lower than where it started."
Paul didn't take too kindly to that, slamming Tyson after the bout. "I made a list of everyone who said I would lose this fight. I made a list of everyone that said Floyd was going to dictate exactly how it went. And I'm posting it. Like, you're all f-----. Mike Tyson is on it. I love Mike Tyson but he is on it. He told me on my own podcast, 'Floyd is going to beat his f------ ass' That's what he said. Floyd didn't beat my f------ ass Mike," Paul said in the press conference.
The results appear to have surprised Tyson, who also had a change of heart. On Monday, June 7, he appeared on an Instagram Live video with former boxer Zab Judah. During their conversation, Tyson said, "I'm trying to get Logan Paul to fight Badou Jack. I wanna see what he says about that." To that, Judah replied, "Yeah, that's a real fight now. He fights Badou Jack, Logan Paul is gonna be in a big fight. That's a whole different fight. You fight that guy, Badou is gonna give you a fight. Badou coming to fight! That's all Badou do is fight!"
Badou, a Swedish boxer, has a 30-3-3 record, with 14 wins by knockout. Between 2014 and 2017, Badou held the WBC super-middleweight title. It should be an interesting match-up for sure if Paul decided to continue his pro boxing career. Will he take up Tyson's challenge? That remains to be seen, but he's certainly confident about his odds. "I don't want anyone to tell me anything is impossible ever again," Paul told the press. "The fact that I'm in here with one of the best boxers of all times proves the odds can be beat."