Carl Froch has had plenty of back-and-forth with Jake Paul over the last few years, and he’s no fan of the announced Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight which is going to happen on July 20.
Froch, now 46, says he doesn’t see what the 27-year-old Paul can really gain by fighting the 57-year-old Tyson.
“A young kid being a bully — what’s he getting out of fighting Mike Tyson? What, exactly, does Jake Paul feel that he’s achieving by beating a guy who’s nearly 60 years old?” Froch asked in the latest episode of his Froch on Fighting YouTube series.
“There’s nothing to prove. The guy’s well past his best. Finished. Pipe and slippers long, long ago. I mean, he was probably peaking in the early 90s. It’s now 30 years on and he’s not a boxer anymore. He’s settled down, he’s finished in the game.
“Has Jake Paul been badly advised, actually? I mean, whoever’s telling Jake Paul that it’s a good idea to fight Mike Tyson — Jake Paul’s fighting an old man, so if he wins, he’s beaten an old man. People are gonna say, ‘What have you proved there?’ If he loses, he’s lost to an old man.”
“The people who don’t understand boxing might get excited about it. ‘It’s still Iron Mike Tyson, the big bad man,’ and he still has got a punch. The punch power is the last thing to leave a professional fighter. Your reflexes go, your fitness goes, your punch resistance goes. If that’s gone, imagine Jake Paul knocking out Mike Tyson.
“To me, that just sounds disgusting. You’re beating up an old man. It’s wrong in every single way possible.”
On Jake Paul’s boxing career
“Jake Paul’s got a teenybopper demographic, a TikTok audience, and I’m not giving them stick, but they’re all very young. They’re the ones that are stupid enough to follow this shit career that he’s involved in, this fake boxing career he’s been wrapped up in for a while.
“He got exposed by Tommy Fury, and I thought that’d be the end of him. Tommy Fury I don’t think is good enough to win a British title. I’m not giving him any stick, he’s a novice professional and Jake Paul lost to him.
“Who’s he fought? He’s fought an old man, Anderson Silva, and that looked like a fix, a shot that missed and Anderson Silva jumped on the floor. Then he’s fought two bums, I don’t even know who the guys are but they looked like a right mess, looked like they did not belong in a boxing ring, and Jake Paul hits them with one shot and they’re chucking themselves on the floor.”
On the Paul vs Tyson odds
“I think rightly so, Mike Tyson’s the underdog. Jake Paul’s a massive favorite, but the guy’s in his mid-20s and he’s fighting someone 30 years older than him.
“Do I see a world in which Mike Tyson could potentially beat Jake Paul? The last thing to go is your punching power, but he’s probably got a 15-20 second burst in him, and then when he runs out of steam because Jake Paul keeps out of his way early on, he’s gonna be blowing out of his ass, Mike Tyson, and he’s going to be a sitting duck. It’s going to be target practice. So I don’t think Mike Tyson has got a puncher’s chance.
“Obviously if he lands flush on Jake Paul’s chin — I mean, how fucking good would that be? I would absolutely love it if Mike Tyson got in the ring and connected on Jake Paul’s chin and flattened him. That would mean all his bullshit and hype and all this talk, all this being a greedy bully fighting Mike Tyson would backfire, but I just can’t see that happening.
“I just don’t see how a guy who’s nearly 60 years old and hasn’t been anywhere near a gym — obviously, we’re seeing clips of him looking decent on the pads for two, three seconds that have been chopped in, but he’s not an athlete anymore. He’s a retired, old man, and I’m not saying that in a disrespectful way, that’s just where he is.
“You’ve got Jake Paul who’s actually in the gym a lot. He’s not a professional boxer, he never will be, because he’s fucking crap, he can’t fight. If you’ve seen him fight, he’s useless. He’s just a bully. But he’s going to beat Mike Tyson because he’s in his 20s. Time waits for no man. Mike Tyson is just too old.”
Froch’s message to Jake Paul
“Jake Paul, you are an absolute bitch. I’ve seen you fight. I watched you lose against Tommy Fury, what a crap fight that was, I’ve never seen anything so crap in my life. Why are you still gloving up and lacing up the boots and calling yourself a professional boxer? You’re a performing clown, you’re a fucking embarrassment, and you should be ashamed of yourself.
“I’ve never had a personal beef with Jake Paul. He’s the one who called me out. He mentioned my name in some stupid interview he did, because he don’t like the fact that I don’t give him any credit or any praise in the boxing world, because he doesn’t deserve it, because he can’t box.
“You had the opportunity to fight me because you talked, you used my name in some bullshit, then you chucked Anderson Silva in the mix. You said, ‘Fight Anderson Silva and prove yourself and I’ll take you on.’ Well I put you straight in your box, didn’t I? I said, ‘Come on then, let’s do it.’ I threatened to put him into orbit and he went quiet. Totally silent. Didn’t want to know.
“Because you know, even though I’m 10 years retired and I’m 20 years older than you, you know you can’t risk fighting somebody like me. … You won’t fight me, will you? You ain’t got the bollocks. You’re just a fucking bully. It’s pissing me off, because Mike Tyson is such an icon, he’s such a legend in the boxing world, and you’re gonna disrespect him, and you’re disrespecting yourself, actually.
“You’re an embarrassment. It just shows what you are. You’ve got a guy here who’s 20 years your senior, who’s not in the gym, and you went silent. You filled your nappy as soon as I called you out. … All these excuses — ‘Oh, Carl Froch must need the money, he must want a payday,’ and he laughs it off and brushes it to one side. He’s got no intention of coming anywhere near me.
“He’s ran his mouth, I’ve put it on him and said, ‘Let’s go,’ and I’m not trying to make money. I’ll fight you for the pure love of it, I’ll fight you for fun, and you can mark these words down in the contract, I’ll fight you for free, because you need to stop doing what you’re doing.”