by Keith Idec
IRVING, Texas – The perceived disrespect didn’t sit well with Jake Paul.
Ariel Helwani, the moderator of Paul’s press conference for his Netflix fight with Mike Tyson, asked all of the undercard fighters on the dais Wednesday night for their predictions on the main event. Nine of the 12 boxers scheduled to box before Paul opposes Tyson on Friday night picked the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion.
All three of the fighters that picked Paul – Lucas Bahdi, Shadasia Green and Amanda Serrano – are represented by his company, MVP Promotions. Losing that impromptu poll perturbed Paul, who went to each of the nine fighters that chose Tyson and challenged them to place wagers with him.
“I love it,” Paul said as he got up from his seat at Toyota Music Factory. “I love it. You know, hey, when I see dumb people saying dumb predictions, I just feel bad for them. So, at the end of the day, who wants to bet on it, huh? Does anyone wanna bet on it? I’m shaking hands. So, how much we wanna bet on this?”
Indian welterweight Neeraj Goyat appeared to wager one of the properties he owns in his home country, which Goyat said is worth more than $1 million. Australian featherweight Dana Coolwell, who will box Brooklyn’s Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington, was much more conservative. He agreed to bet “20 bucks” on Tyson.
He called WBC welterweight champ Mario Barrios a “bitch,” but Paul appeared particularly bothered by Carrington, who grew up in the same section of Brooklyn as Brownsville’s Tyson.
“Bro, the time I spend taking a sh*t is how much you make in your whole life, buddy,” Paul yelled at Carrington, who seemed surprised by Paul’s reaction. “Shut the f*ck up! How much you wanna lose? A million dollars – deal.”
The polarizing Paul (10-1, 7 KOs), who is 31 years younger and listed by most sportsbooks as more than a 2-1 favorite to defeat Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs, 2 NC), was more respectful when he approached Katie Taylor. The Irishwoman will defend her IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC and WBO 140-pound championships against Serrano in the 10-round co-feature Friday night.
“Oh, wait. Oh, wait. I forgot Katie Taylor back here,” Paul told Helwani. “How much you wanna bet? As much as you want. I’m not losing. No shot in hell.”
Taylor playfully offered for Paul to wager his purse on his eight-round bout with Tyson.
“Yeah, let’s bet the purse,” Paul replied. “Deal. And I’m sending out contracts, too.”
Paul’s heavyweight fight against Tyson is the main event of a seven-bout card that will mark the first live sporting event on Netflix, which has almost 283 million subscribers in more than 190 nations.
Three-fight undercard coverage will begin at 10:30 p.m. GMT in the UK and 5:30 p.m. ET in the United States on the YouTube channels of Netflix Sports and MVP Promotions. The four-fight offering on Netflix is set to start at 1 a.m. GMT and 8 p.m. ET.