Andre Ward Says Jake Paul Vs. Mike Tyson Is Impossible To Predict

TMZ

If you were looking for betting advice from Andre Ward on the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight ... search elsewhere -- the former boxing superstar tells TMZ Sports it's so close between the two, he has absolutely "no idea" how things will shake out.

Transcript

00:00You know, normally you've got a feeling, okay, this guy's got the advantage in this fight.

00:05That guy's got the advantage.

00:06This one, I truly have no idea because you've got this guy who was a legend in Mike Tyson,

00:11but he's near 60 years old against Jake Paul.

00:13I mean, what the hell's going to happen?

00:16What's going to happen tomorrow night?

00:17I have no idea.

00:20That's why that's one of the main reasons why there's so much interest in the fight.

00:24Some people are taking the moral high road.

00:26At least they say they are.

00:27I'm not watching it, but I believe they're going to be watching too.

00:30It's going to be tens of thousands of people at AT&T Stadium.

00:33You just don't know what to make of it.

00:35If it's the average 58-year-old, you kind of sort of know how this thing is going to

00:40go.

00:41We're talking about Mike Tyson.

00:42If it's a 58-year-old that I'm not worried about, it's him.

00:45And then you have, you know, another quantity, you know, in Jake Paul who, you know, most

00:52didn't take him serious in the fight space, but he's forcing your hand.

00:57He's forcing your hand to pay attention.

00:59He's forcing your hand to, if not be a believer, to at least tune in, to root against him.

01:04He's done that.

01:06And he's a fighter who's slowly getting better, but then he keeps upping the ante with the

01:11level of comp and the name of fighter that he's facing.

01:15And now he's in there with Mike Tyson.

01:17I don't know what to make of it.

01:18I want Mike to win.

01:19I grew up watching Mike.

01:20I don't want to see nothing bad happen to Mike.

01:23I don't know, bro.

01:26I'm glad that you say that because it's, yeah, it's impossible to even try and predict.

01:30You could see it going both ways, I think.

01:32I saw the photos of Mike at the weigh-in, Andre.

01:36Mike's body looks right.

01:37It looks like, if that's any indication at least, that he's been taking training seriously.

01:42What's your read on that?

01:44Has Mike really trained hard for this fight and has he prepared himself to get back in

01:47that ring after a couple years away?

01:49I believe he has.

01:50I believe Mike has been training for four or five months for this fight.

01:53They had an original day in the summer that got pushed back.

01:55I think as soon as Mike got a clean bill of health, he got back in the gym.

01:59We did an interview with him on All the Smoke, our platform on YouTube.

02:04Check it out, man.

02:05It's a beautiful interview, man.

02:06That interview will make you cry, laugh, and it'll make you think because Mike displayed

02:12himself and talked in a way I've never heard him talk before.

02:15When the man walked in the room to do the interview, I had to get myself together because

02:21he's like a tank.

02:22He just walked in, he's got this presence about him, and he's like, hey, brother, how

02:26are you?

02:27I'm looking at the muscles jumping out of his shirt, and I kind of give him a hug.

02:32I'm like, what's up, Mike?

02:33I'm like, man, bro, you really training for this.

02:36He's like, I train all day.

02:38When I got done talking to Mike and I got done seeing his physique through the shirt,

02:44he made me a believer.

02:45I forgot about his age that quick.

02:48Wow.

02:49And that interview, by the way, was phenomenal, Andre, and people should absolutely check

02:53it out.

02:54It's awesome, awesome stuff.

02:56You talked about Jake Paul and a lot of people who said, hey, you know, either he's making

03:00a mockery of the sport at first, but then he is seemingly really committed himself to

03:04the sport.

03:05He seems to like the sport, respect the sport, and work hard at it.

03:09Have you, as a guy who is truly one of the best boxers of all time, have you been?

03:14Impressed with Jake Paul from what you've seen?

03:17I wouldn't say impressed with, you know, his boxing ability, but what I am impressed with

03:22is his dedication.

03:23You know, I know the guys that he has in his camp, the trainers, the different guys, the

03:26conditioning guys.

03:27He's taking it serious.

03:28You got to respect that.

03:29You know, it's some fighters who have the pedigree.

03:31They have, you know, the world at their fingertips and they don't dedicate themselves.

03:36Jake didn't come from a boxing background, and for him to put this much attention to

03:40detail and just put that kind of effort into it, I respect it.

03:44And of course, on the way up, you know, his matchmaking is very, very, you know, specific

03:49and he's trying to pick the right guys, and rightfully so, because he doesn't have the

03:52deep amateur background.

03:54So I respect it.

03:55I'm not a hater of Jake Paul.

03:58Don't knock the hustle, man.

03:59He brought his fan base over here.

04:01They're tuning in.

04:02And if fighters have a problem with it, step your game up.

04:06Do you think that the, especially the boxers, Andre, are the boxers starting to come around

04:10a little, like the boxing community starting to come around a little bit and realizing

04:14that, like, hey, he is bringing more eyeballs.

04:17Maybe people who wouldn't have been boxing fans in the past, now they're watching.

04:21They like the sport.

04:22Do you think this sport's starting to realize that he has been like a net positive?

04:26If I had to guess from the fighters that I talked to, I would say no.

04:33Because you know, we're hardcore.

04:35So they're looking at all that they had to do to get to where they're at.

04:39And many feel like he cut the line.

04:40Again, I don't see it like that.

04:42I see it as a guy who built a fan base, got it out the mud.

04:45It's different than how a fighter got it out the mud, but he got it out the mud.

04:48And they followed him over.

04:50You can't knock that.

04:51You can't be mad at that.

04:52And boxing is in the mainstream, right?

04:55Boxing is being talked about every time he fights.

04:57He's selling out arenas.

04:59He's in the discussion.

05:01So I don't knock it.

05:02I think many fighters do.

05:03But man, putting on events like this, man, it's hard.

05:07It's getting harder and harder for guys to at least not tip their cap and say, man, I

05:10respect us.

05:11So when we're watching the fight on Friday, I think maybe the conventional wisdom has

05:16been like, OK, if it's going to go Mike's way, then it goes Mike's way early.

05:21And if it's seventh, eighth round, perhaps that means it's positive for Jake Paul.

05:28What should we look at?

05:29What do we look at to say, OK, hey, Mike's in control here or Jake's in control?

05:33Are there any key aspects, keys to winning that you see for each guy?

05:38Well, I think, as you mentioned, Mike is very, very dangerous throughout the whole fight,

05:42but more so early in the fight.

05:43It's eight two-minute rounds.

05:44So the first four rounds is very, very key for Mike Tyson to establish himself.

05:48Try to hit Jake Paul with something that gets his attention and let Jake know that, yeah,

05:52I'm 58, but I'm still Mike Tyson.

05:53The thing I'm going to be looking for with Mike is, how is he getting those punches off?

05:56Are they crispy?

05:57Is he too slow at his age, or can he still get a good shot through?

06:01Because with Mike, as we know, it only takes one good one.

06:04Also looking at Mike's defense, can Mike get out the way?

06:07Because just like Mike can hit, so can Jake Paul.

06:09Jake Paul can't hit like Mike, but he can hit hard enough.

06:11And we've seen Jake knock guys out with one hit or quitters, the fight is over.

06:15So my biggest concern with Mike Tyson is, as the fight goes on, I know for a fact I

06:20can listen to the conversation.

06:22I hear the things Jake is saying.

06:24I'm looking at his history, and I see the body language.

06:26He wants to knock out Mike Tyson.

06:28He doesn't care about the bad press after.

06:30He doesn't care about people saying he's 58 years old.

06:32He wants that name on his resume.

06:35Will you be able to tell, Andre, for the most part, how this thing is going to go in the

06:38first 30 seconds or so, when you see how each guy, but especially how Mike, is moving?

06:45Not the first 30, because everybody's still feeling themselves out and feeling each other

06:48out and trying to gauge their range.

06:50But midway through, right around three or four, I'm going to see, okay, Jake is trying

06:54to line Mike up, or Mike may be getting a little tired, or no, Mike's still fresh.

06:59But midway through, three, four, somewhere around there, that'll give all of us a clear

07:03picture of how this fight is going.

07:06Does any of this make you want to get back in there, Andre?

07:08I know, obviously, some people have talked at length about you retired at such a young

07:12guy in your prime.

07:15We're about the same age.

07:16We're young compared to Mike, I guess.

07:19Does this make you say, hey, it's not a bad paycheck either, but I'm kind of into this?

07:27The event makes you want to come back.

07:29The payday makes you want to come back.

07:31But then you start thinking about all the stuff you got to do to actually get to the

07:34event, and that's when I'm discouraged all over again, and I remind myself that I made

07:38a good decision.

07:39Getting to the fight, that's the problem, is getting through two or three months of

07:44training camp, as far as three days a week and all that, that's the problem.

07:48We were talking to Steven Espinosa this morning, I said, what do you think they're going to

07:51make?

07:52He's like, oh, you know, at least 30 to 40 million.

07:53I'm like, that's not too bad for like 16 minutes of work, but right, it's not 16 minutes

07:57of work, right?

07:59That's the fun part, I guess.

08:00It's a beautiful payday, nonetheless.

08:02It's not a bad shot in the arm for Mike at this stage, and it's not a bad shot in the

08:05arm for either one of them.

08:06No, I'd take that shot in the arm.

08:07Any day of the week.

Category

Transcript

Recommended