Jake Paul claims that if he loses to Mike Perry on Saturday night, he will miss out on the long-awaited match against Mike Tyson.
Paul now says losing to Perry in their eight-round cruiserweight bout is “not possible.” But Tyson is apparently less confident.
“(Tyson) was worried about me taking this fight,” Paul told reporters on Wednesday. “He was like, ‘What’s Jake thinking? That guy Mike Perry is a murderer.’ So he had some concerns.
“But Tyson, my message to you is don’t worry. I’m going to put this guy to sleep. This is a Mike (Tyson) appetizer and you’re next.”
Paul was scheduled to fight Tyson on Saturday, but Tyson withdrew after suffering a stomach ulcer on May 26. Their fight, which will air on Netflix, has been rescheduled for Nov. 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Tyson resumed training two weeks ago and is expected to return to the gym later this month, according to his agent, Andrew Ruf.
Two Netflix publicists did not respond to emails seeking comment about whether the fight would be affected if Paul loses to Perry.
Ruf, Tyson’s agent, said there were “definitely a lot of conversations” about a fight between Paul and Perry, but that the decision was ultimately made by Paul and his manager, Nakisa Bidarian.
“…Mike is 100 percent behind it and we’ll see how it goes,” Ruf said. “We’ll be watching it very closely.”
Perry, 32, has only one professional boxing bout to his name, a fourth-round knockout in 2015 against Kenneth McNeil.
But Perry, a former mixed martial arts fighter, has a 5-0 record as a bareknuckle fighter since making his debut with the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship promotion in 2021. Perry’s last three wins have come by knockout.
Paul, 27, has a 9-1 record as a boxer with six knockouts and has won each of his last two fights by first-round knockout.
“A lot of people think I’m crazy for jumping here,” Paul said after the fight was announced for June 18. “Why Mike Perry, why now, why take the risk? You could lose the biggest payday of your life against Mike Tyson if you lose to Mike Perry, who’s a violent killer, an undefeated legend there.
“He takes punches like they’re nothing, he’s fast, he’s athletic, he hits hard, he’s a fighter, and I can’t take that lightly. This whole thing is a risk, I’m focused on July 20th, I’m focused on Mike Perry and in that mindset I’m going to get the win.”
On Tuesday, Paul addressed similar issues during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
“Mike Perry is no joke and it’s a big risk because if I lose this one then obviously the fight with Mike Tyson is over,” Paul said. “So there’s a lot at stake here, which creates a bit of pressure to deal with. But I usually do best in high-pressure situations, so we’ll see what happens.”
But on Wednesday, after an open workout, Paul struck a different tone when asked how a loss to Perry would affect his scheduled fight against Tyson.
“That’s not going to happen, man,” he said. “That’s not possible, so I can’t even answer that question. I know I’m going to win handily.”