Mike Tyson warned about ‘something nasty going off in the background’ ahead of Jake Paul fight

Former boxing star Steve Ward has warned Mike Tyson about his fight with Jake Paul and the possibility of there being ‘something nasty going off in the background’.

Tyson and Paul confirmed their fight last month, despite a huge 30-year age gap between the pair.

Some, such as Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, have defended the pair.

Yet others, including Eddie Hearn and Ricky Hatton, have been critical of the event.

Ward knows all about how Tyson will be feeling, having fought until the age of 64.

But he’s fired a warning to Iron Mike, insisting he could tarnish his legacy if he’s restricted by the rules and regulations in place.

“Personally, I think that Mike Tyson could go straight out there and knock him out within a minute, just cream him altogether,” he told talkSPORT.

“But are they going to allow that?

“Or is there something nasty going off in the background that says ‘You don’t knock him out, Mike? Well, it’s all to be seen.'”

He continued: “For me personally, I wish the fight had never been made because if it is like that, and Mike holds back on the reins, it only looks bad for one person, Mike Tyson.

“I wouldn’t like him to go out there losing his respect and I really think if he’s held back that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

“So it’s a shameful thing. I wish it had never got off the ground.”

Ward also feels Tyson will be enduring ‘agony’ as he looks to make his return to boxing.

The 57-year-old last fought back in 2020, with his match with Roy Jones Jr ending in a draw.

And Ward has claimed Tyson faces some difficult months of training ahead.

“It is awkward. First of all, you’ve got to want to really do it,” he said.

“You’ve got to have the will to do it. You can’t half do this. You play football, you play tennis, you don’t play boxing.

“So that’s one place in that ring, the loneliest place on the earth, where you can get badly hurt if you’re not up to the mark.

“So to pick it up, you’ve really got to want to do it and you’ve got to know what it all entails. It’s agony.

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“Going through the training is agony.

“When I did mine (boxing comeback) I was going up to 10 hours, 12 hours a day training because you could be caught cold.

“That guy in that opposite corner wants to nail you. You know what it’s like, and you’re not prepared to let him do that.

“So I can just imagine Mike’s had a hard job on, he’s had to get back on form.

“From what I’ve seen his fast combinations are looking the business.

“But a fast combination can be seen quickly and then you can go a little bit duff.

“I hope he isn’t, I hope he really is training himself to that magnificent peak. Once again, I want him to do Paul.”