Evander Holyfield’s damaged ear from Mike Tyson’s bite at Thursday’s weigh-in will serve as a stark warning for Jake Paul ahead of their Netflix fight on Friday.
Tyson will step in the ring for his first professional fight in 19 years to face Paul, the YouTuber turned boxer, at the AT&T Stadium in Texas. The fight will be streamed live on Netflix, while people in the UK can expect the ring walks to take place at around 4am on Saturday morning.
Paul has already been warned about Tyson’s underhand tactics, with Kevin McBride, the man who last beat Iron Mike in 2005, revealing that he had his nipple bitten and his arm nearly broken during their fight.
Holyfield was also a victim of Tyson’s viciousness in the ring as he had a chunk of his right ear bitten off during their rematch in 1997.
During an interview with Joe Rogan in 2019, Holyfield revealed what was going through his head after he was bitten by Tyson.
‘Biting him back, I’m serious, I was getting ready to bite the daylights out of him,’ Holyfield said.
‘I was going to bite him in his face, I wouldn’t wait for the ear, I was going to get him back. When you’re from the ghetto they say, ‘when you do something you’ve got to do it worse than they did’.
‘I never, ever thought in my life he’d bite my on the ear. And it hurt so bad, people as how bad it hurt, I say, ‘did you see how high I jumped?’. It hurt so bad.’
Holyfield, who is now 62 and beat Tyson twice during his career, was at Thursday’s weigh-in to see how his former rival shaped up ahead of his return to the ring.
Asked if he would ever fight Tyson for a third time, Holyfield said on Thursday: ‘Well, it’s up to him.
‘My own thing is that I’m always ready, I stay in shape. But in general, I wouldn’t just fight anybody because the fact of the matter, I understand, I’m older. I’m going the other way.’
Holyfield also believes Paul will offer Tyson a tough test if he can withstand an early onslaught from the two-time world heavyweight champion.
‘It’s obvious for both the money’s good, the only thing is you got to come to a conclusion that it’s going to be early or it’s going to be short,’ Holyfield said.
‘I don’t think he can outbox Mike, but if he can take it he’s going to give it.
‘He’s got energy, he’s a good fighter, he’s just a fighter that didn’t go through the system like an average boxer, but he can fight.’
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