Press conference between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul: “Iron Mike” only says a few words as Paul makes bets with other fighters

Fans who watched Wednesday’s press conference for Friday’s highly anticipated fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul hoping for fiery words were certainly disappointed. While Paul tried to bait Tyson into trash-talking, Tyson had almost nothing to say to his opponent or respond to questions from the media.

Tyson seemed largely uninterested in speaking and refused to speak at almost every turn. Paul, meanwhile, showed off his usual tricks, even if Tyson wasn’t there to play the verbal game.

“It’s sweet, you know,” Paul once said. “I fear no man. I want him to be that old, wild Mike. He says he will kill me, is that what you will do? … I want there to be no excuses when I knock him out. “Is that what you’re going to do?”

Tyson had nothing to say about it, despite previously saying he was a “natural born killer” while Paul was fictional.

“I’m ready right now,” was Tyson’s only response.

Tyson pressed on his refusal to give answers as the press conference continued, stating: “I’m just ready to fight. I said everything I wanted to say. There’s nothing left to say. I’m just looking forward to the fight.”

Paul continued to try to force Tyson to return the verbal fire, saying Tyson was “pretty boring” and claiming the only good thing he could say about his opponent was that he was in the pictures he was in be, would look good lying on the screen after he was unconscious.

Press conference host Ariel Helwani concluded the ceremonies by asking the fighters on stage to give their prediction for the fight, with the majority picking Tyson as the winner. This led to Paul’s final burst of celebration as he went from fighter to fighter asking them to place bets on their predictions.

“I love it,” Paul said. “Hey, when I see stupid people making stupid predictions, I just feel sorry for them. Who wants to bet on that?”