Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. Post-Fight Press Conference Transcript

Jake Paul: (00:37)
You know, I’m putting the work in and I understand why people don’t want to accept me yet, but I’ve had two flawless victories and I’m really dedicated my life to this. I have a $8 million mansion in Calabasas that I haven’t stayed at for six months. I haven’t even been home because I’ve been in Las Vegas training in a little tiny house, two a days, pouring my heart and soul into this. So if people don’t respect that, then I don’t know what they’re going to respect. It’s an uphill battle for Jake Paul, it always has been. I fought for everything in my whole entire life. People hate me, people talk shit about me, but I’m still here, still here.

Reporter: (01:24)
[inaudible 00:01:32].

Jake Paul: (01:40)
I already have. I already have for the past year. I’ve forfeited so many opportunities for this sport. Millions of dollars of opportunities. Content I could be posting. Merch I could be selling. Millions of views I could be getting. Albums I could be dropping. Movies I could be starring in. All because I want to box and I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.

Reporter: (02:13)
[inaudible 00:00:02:19].

Jake Paul: (02:19)
I don’t know, the money’s cool, you know? But I already made a lot of money. Now I want to die a legend.

Reporter: (02:32)

Jake Paul: (02:39)
Yeah. I mean, my nickname is the Problem Child. I always found myself in problems. But yeah, I try to keep out of trouble. I always have, but it always finds me I feel like. So, I’m 23 with a lot of responsibility, a lot of pressure, the whole world watching. So I’m not perfect, I’m going to fuck up. But I learned from those fuck ups or at least I try to.

Reporter: (03:12)
[inaudible 00:03:12] fighting on the part of Mike Tyson [inaudible 00:03:17].

Jake Paul: (03:27)
Yeah. I read Mike Tyson’s book before I was on this undercard, before Mike Tyson even knew who I was. And I related so much to it, the problems, the struggles, the fucking people stabbing him in the back. He went through so much shit, charges, everything. It’s the same shit I’ve went through. So for me, Mike Tyson’s such a fucking inspiration and it’s such an honor to be on this card. And I feel like I’ve literally had almost the same exact life as him, you know? In different ways. So I’ve learned a lot from him. And when we met, I asked him for that advice. I was like, “Yo, how do you stay focused outside the ring?” And we had a heart to heart, but it’s a dream come true. And to put on a performance like that, I don’t know.

Reporter: (04:39)

Jake Paul: (04:41)
Next question. I stole the show tonight. They can fuck off. Next question.

Reporter: (04:46)

Jake Paul: (04:49)
I thought it was dope. I’m a little upset that they made it a draw, but they gave it their all and they both looked good. Mike came out swinging. Mike won, let’s give Mike the W, I want to see Mike Tyson versus Evander Holyfield. Put me on the undercard. I’m biting someone’s ear off.

Reporter: (05:11)

Jake Paul: (05:24)
Yeah, I would fight him, but it wouldn’t be about the money. For me, it’s about proving to all the younger brothers out there that you don’t have to be in the shadow of your older brother. And I think I would fight him just because I want to prove everyone wrong. I think most people would think, I mean not after tonight, but I think most people would think that he would beat me because he’s bigger. He looks more ripped, but I’m a real dog. And he can catch that smoke eventually, but I love him to death. So, it’s a weird kind of thing to talk about. But you know, maybe it will go up. Maybe it won’t happen. Maybe a year from now, I’ll change my mind. So I don’t know, I’m 23 and make stupid decisions. And I’m not as mature as I… So who knows what will happen?

Reporter: (06:22)

Jake Paul: (06:36)
My career goal was to do exactly what I did. Is to have an undeniable victory and steal the show and prove to the boxing world who has doubted me for the past six months. That I’m a pro-boxer and I’m here to stay. And when you put those 10 [inaudible 00:06:54] of clothes on me, I’m vicious. I can hit, I’m a real dog. And when these MMA fighters come into the ring, they’re going to meet the Problem Child. They’re going to meet me. And I’m here to make millions of dollars and sell millions of pay-per-view. I’m here to be one of the biggest stars. I think I might just be the new Floyd.

Reporter: (07:24)
[inaudible 00:00:07:21].

Jake Paul: (07:24)
I mean, I boxed for like six to eight hours a day and I make music like once a month. But whenever I get in the studio, shit, that’s one of my… You know what I’m saying. I’m forfeiting a lot to box. So we’ll see. I’m going to keep on putting out songs because it’s what I love to do. I’m going to wake up tomorrow, Sunday, and the way my mind works is I’m just going to be like, “Okay, what am I doing next? I got to go. I got to work hard.”

Reporter: (07:56)

Jake Paul: (08:11)
I don’t think I have to. I’m the money man, now. I call the shots now. I’m A side always, now. It’s seven figures all the time, now. Maybe eight figures too, shit. I think it’s eight figures now. Yeah, it is right? Yeah. It’s eight figure, I’m the eight figure kid, now. But I mean, shit, you never know what’s going to happen. If you told me two or four years ago, if I’d be knocking out Nate Robinson on Mike Tyson undercard at a boxing match, I’d be like, “What? I’m a Disney Channel actor. What are you talking about?” So four years from now who knows? Anything could happened. It’s 2020.

Reporter: (08:56)

Jake Paul: (09:04)
Thank you, guys.

Jake Paul: (09:04)
(silence). Hold my hand.

Badou Jack: (09:04)
Oh, the whole thing?

Reporter: (09:04)

Badou Jack: (09:04)
Hold my hand.

Reporter: (09:04)

Badou Jack: (10:21)
I mean, sometimes it’s hard to stop a guy that just wants to survive. He’s not even trying to win. He just wants to go the distance. So that is a little hard, but yeah, he got heart. I’m not going to say heart. He’s tough. He could take a whooping. So I should’ve got him out of that, but I’ve been out for 11 months. Maybe it’s good to get some rounds in, but yeah, at least I show up, beat him up and I showed him his level two boxing.

Reporter: (10:53)
[inaudible 00:00:10:52].

Badou Jack: (10:53)
Because he wasn’t trying to win. He start running, holding, trying to survive. He was in there, but he wasn’t trying to win. But he was tough, like competitor. So I give him that.

Reporter: (11:08)

Badou Jack: (11:08)
Left hook.

Reporter: (11:08)

Badou Jack: (11:14)
That’s what I’m saying. He’s tough. He took an ass whooping, but it was also only eight rounder. If it was another round, maybe 10 rounder, which they didn’t want it to be a 10 rounder. Because this is my first eight rounder in like eight years or something. So, but yeah, no hats off to him. He took a whooping and onto the next one.

Reporter: (11:49)

Badou Jack: (11:49)
I mean, not really. You don’t get paid for overtime. And a guy like that, I suppose to stop him, but everybody else think I look good. And I’m just my worst critic. I want it to stop.

Reporter: (12:12)

Badou Jack: (12:19)
Pascal re-match. That’s what’s next. I mean, I thought I got robbed and most people, 75% of everybody that was watching that fight, thought I won. And yeah, now I’ve got a new coach and I feel great. So yeah, we have that rematch. They said the first quarter of next year. So January, February, March, I’m ready whenever he is.

Reporter: (12:45)
[inaudible 00:00:12:52].

Badou Jack: (12:52)
Yeah. That’s why he didn’t… Pascal is not scared of me. He fought everybody. I’m not saying that, but he didn’t want to fight because we were supposed to fight on the Gervonta Davis undercard. But at that time they changed to fans like the last two weeks. But before, when we was going to fight, they said they wanted the fans to be there. Or actually, he wanted the normal perse, but you can’t get that regular purse when there’s no fans, there’s no gate. So that hopefully we can make the fight happen in Texas. You can have fans there. So we’ll see what happens, but I’m ready whenever he is.

Reporter: (13:29)

Badou Jack: (13:31)
Yeah. Thank you very much.

Reporter: (13:34)

Badou Jack: (13:34)
I mean, they say my first win since 2017, but I only had three fights and two of them all got robbed. One was the draw was Stevenson, I won that fight. I won fight with a Pascal, I should’ve won. And Marcus Brown, yeah, that was a loss. But yeah, that was also an nasty cut. So it was, you know, kind of weird, but I mean, this guy was levels below those guys. So, I mean, I’m supposed to win. Against a guy like that.

Reporter: (14:16)

Badou Jack: (14:19)
No, not at all.

Reporter: (14:20)
[inaudible 00:00:14:23].

Badou Jack: (14:26)
I didn’t want this [inaudible 00:14:28] to be honest, I didn’t want to fight him. I wanted to fight my… I fought eight world champion, future, former, whatever in a row, since 2015, I haven’t had an easy fight. So I didn’t want it. I want to continue to fight the best, but like I said, Pascal, that was that thing with the money. So that was the only issue. Otherwise I would have fought Pascal.

Reporter: (14:48)
[inaudible 00:00:14:53].

Badou Jack: (14:57)
Yeah. So normally I wouldn’t fight after some YouTubers or before YouTuber and yeah, that’s kind of… To me, it was disrespectful, but because Mike Tyson asked me if I want to be the co-main, but like I said, I do this for charity this before [inaudible 00:15:16] foundation and to give kids all over the world, a fighting chance in life. So to all the refugee kids, to orphans, this is a different event, but this is for my charity. So I don’t care about being first, no fans, nothing like that. This is strictly for them.

Reporter: (15:31)

Badou Jack: (15:31)
I mean, to be honest, I didn’t watch the fight, I didn’t pay no attention to that. So that’s not… I’m 37 years old I don’t really follow that YouTube thing.

Reporter: (15:48)

Badou Jack: (15:48)
Like I said, I haven’t really seen him, so I don’t know. But I saw his brother fought KSI and I know KSI a little bit. I walked him out to the ring.

Badou Jack: (16:02)
…and I know KSI a little bit, I walked him out to the ring. I seen some clip on the internet. Yeah, he looks like he’s a good athlete for that level of YouTuber, so he can do whatever he wants to do, and you can knock his hustle.

Reporter: (16:16)

Badou Jack: (16:25)
Yeah, but the thing with Viddal, he’s a trainer for the YouTuber, so he became a YouTuber after boxing, so he’s actually a real fighter. He had 50 amateur fights or whatever, and he’s a real fighter that’s a YouTuber also. These guys are so much younger than me. I call Viddal my son, he’s 15 years younger than me. This is the social media era. I mean, now I’m talking like I’m really old, but-

Reporter: (16:54)
You’re actually young enough for Mike Tyson.

Badou Jack: (16:56)
Right, he’s 17 years older than me.

Reporter: (16:58)
What do you think about Tyson [inaudible 00:17:00]

Badou Jack: (17:01)
I mean, you got to give credit, 54 years old, he hasn’t been in the ring in 15 years, and he was over weight and everything. I think it looked good.

Reporter: (17:11)
For those that don’t know, mike Tyson walked you out to the ring back in the day.

Badou Jack: (17:21)
Yeah. I met Mike for the first time, I think 10 years ago, 9 years ago, when I first moved to Vegas, and he’s always been cool. He always liked me. He called me Beau Jack, the the old school boxer Beau Jack from the sixties or whatever. He, he always liked me, we’re both Muslims, and same with Roy. Roy is my boy too. We’ve got some things going on with Roy in a couple of weeks, some business stuff.

Reporter: (17:48)
So, you think the exhibitions mixing it up?

Badou Jack: (17:54)
I think it’s wrong to tell another grown man what to do or not. They’re legends. I mean, they can do whatever they want to do. Same thing with Floyd, like if he fights those YouTubers or Chinese kickboxers, whatever. All of them, they’re the one of the best fighters ever and let them make some easy money. Why not?

Badou Jack: (18:20)
All right, that’s it? All right, thank you.

Jamaine Ortiz: (18:22)
Thank you.

Reporter: (20:25)
[inaudible 00:04: 22].

The fight went all right. There’s a lot more arsenal that I didn’t get to display, but overall I got the K.O. victory, so I can’t complain. Didn’t let it get to judges’ score cards, so I’m cool with that.

I don’t think that was the biggest difference. I think my skill, my cardio, everything I have was a lot better than his. It might not have showed at a complete comparison, but it didn’t matter if it was the cardio or the skill. Either way, I was better than him tonight.

I don’t really go out looking for the knockout, but I definitely expected myself to take him out, and I didn’t expect to go to the scorecards, and previously to that round my coaches just put a reminder in my head start fishing for the body shots, so the following round that’s what ended up happening.

No, I didn’t know that was going to be the round. A lot of times I just let my body flow and I let it naturally kind of select its punches, and that’s what ended up happening in the seventh round.

Reporter: (21:58)
[inaudible 00:05: 53].

In the beginning, it wasn’t too much, and I was just looking at it as a regular fight. My job is to get the win overall, the hype comes after, so after I got to win and digest and settle down. It’s a great opportunity. I’m grateful for my promoter CS. I’m grateful for Triller and the whole event. It brought a lot of exposure to me, and that’s all I felt like I really needed in my career, and it’s a stepping stone, but it’s a great opportunity. It’s a very digested moment, meeting Roy Jones, Mike Tyson, and being in the same ring as them. So, I’m blessed, and it was a thing for opportunity.

Reporter: (22:46)

Definitely. Definitely I felt like it was a springboard for the world to see my talent, for the world to see who I am, who the technician is, and to get a bigger fight. Thank you.

I kind of just listen to my coach. He told me what to do, and I tried to listen, and that’s what ended up happening from the result, listening to my corner. I never felt rushed at any point of the fight. I actually felt very settled, very chill, very laid back, and compared to how I probably usually am, but in due time it all worked out well.

Not really, to be honest. In a loud arena where people are cheering, I still hear my coaches crystal clear, I’m very focused in my fight, so all I really hear is my coaches in the corner. When I’m fighting in front of hundreds and thousands of people, I still just hear my corner man.

I think this year coming up, 2021, I feel like I can get that world title opportunity, maybe two more fights, I’m highly ranked, whatever the rankings allow me to fight. The world challenges, if I can do that as soon as possible, with another fight or two, then I’ll be happy with that opportunity as well.

It was cool. I like Roy Jones. I love Roy Jones, seemed like he didn’t really miss a beat, with his hands out with his boxing skills and stuff like that, that Roy Jones did good. Mike Tyson, I was able to see where his foot work, that he still had the step-step. So, naturally these fighters, it becomes rhythm, and it just becomes natural what they do. So, I was happy to see that, but it was a good performance from both. It was good for people who watched boxing generally. Thank you.

Roy Jones Jr.: (26:31)
Good evening, everybody. I’m feeling a bit tired, but I’m good, survived it, so I’m happy to scratch it off my bucket list and move on with my life now, you know what I’m saying? So, how y’all doing? Did y’all enjoy it. Thank you. Thank you, I appreciate it.

Reporter: (26:51)

Yeah. He hit harder. Everything hurt. His hands hurt, his head hurts, everything hurts when I make contacts with him, and I’m like, and it makes you so fatigued trying to deal with him, trying to call us on the inside. You got to keep his arm locked. I learned that from watching Lennox Lewis and Holyfield fight him, you got to lock his arms up, or he’ll hit you with some uppercuts, so I was trying to keep his arms locked up, but every time I let him go, what you think I’m going to let him go so he can kill me? No, it’s not going to happen like this. So, I had to work on the clinches, and with the clinches it made it good, so I was able to nail punches on the inside of the clinch and get them back before could ever throw it anything good, so that’s what my strategy was going in, that’s what our strategy was going in with the clinch on the inside, boxing my side, clinching my side.

No, never thought about dropping, but it was two good shots. One good body shot he hit me with, and one he hit me with an uppercut straight up, threw my jaw off a little bit, my jaw’s still a little sore, but it’s all good. It happens in fighting. So, it’s like, I knew it was going to happen, I was glad I was able to take the shots and nothing really happen. I never was dizzy and that. I did feel them, but they never had me dizzy, so I was good.

Of course, everybody’s always going to feel like they want to fight. I thought I wanted to fight, I thought Jay moved around and kind of controlled the pace better, but no. I took a draw with Mike Tyson. Come on, how could you get mad about that? And he was throwing more power punches anyway, I’m throwing more jabs than probably other punches, he lended to more power punches. So, it could go either way. So, I’m cool with the draw. He wanted to do it again, but he’s a big old dude. He’s bigger than he weighs. He weighed 220, but now he’s more massive than 220, trust me.

I’m okay with that, but me being me and knowing me, I ain’t going to be settled with no draws, I see it right away. I’m not the draw type of guy. So, I talked to my kids, my kids would tell me no daddy, that’s it, but we’ll see. Thank you, my brother.

Mike will fight anybody if he just keeps going and stay in shape like he’s doing now, because it surprised me that he was able to go eight round like that, and so with him going eight rounds and strong like he was, he’s capable to fight anybody, because, truthfully, people going to have a problem getting out of the first couple of rounds with him. That was the hardest part, is getting paid them for two or three rounds. So, if he catches you, you’re going to have problems, because, like I said, I was feeling everything, so I know that he’s a really exceptional punch of steel, and he can do anything he wants to do. For him, it makes sense to do it the smart way, but he can do anything he wants to do.

It’s like we have nothing to really prove, so if it may dollars, if it made sense, then I could see him going through it, but he really got in the pool by that. For us to be able to do a dang gon exhibition and break all them records like that, that’s pretty amazing, and it stayed in the confines of being able to do what you do, show your skills still, and everybody held their happy. So, it was like, I don’t want to see nobody go do nothing stupid and go take stupid fights, because we feel like we can, but at the same time you got to know your limitations, and it may be one or two we can get, and I’m sure we don’t mind trying it, but we’ll see what happens.

Man, it’s all a blessing from God to be able for us to be able to bounce back like that. Not just me, me and him, but [inaudible 00:31:10] able to talk about him, and he’s always going to be talked about, because he was such a big guy and a big puncher, but for me, people thought it was over with it in that they never thought I could last eight rounds, and so for me the last eight rounds said a lot to people, make people understand that this thing ain’t what you think it is. It’s like when God calls you go. It wasn’t something that I had planned on doing, but I knew something was going to happen eventually, and to get the opportunity to go out and give the world something, to look forward to those positive, it’s a beautiful thing, and I just thank God that we both made it out cool, and nobody got hurt. So, it’s like, make it even better, because people got entertained, yet everybody is on the edge of their seats because they know all it takes is one punch from either one of us and anything can happen.

Reporter: (31:55)
No, Mike’s power reset.

Reporter: (32:01)

Well, I really thought I had a better chance of hitting him at 34 than I would have at 51. So it would have been tough still though, because like I said, everything he throws is exceptionally strong and you don’t find guys like … What the real difference is, is when you put two people in there together that are really gifted people, you find a difference in that and all this other stuff. And tonight I knew it already in my head because I knew what he’d done and what he’s accomplished in his career. But he’s just further showed that he was Mike for a reason.

Reporter: (32:39)

I think I probably remember the uppercut the most. Got my jaw still a little shook up, but it’s all good, because it’s boxing. But I think I remember the uppercut the most.

Reporter: (32:57)

I think the hook I threw was my favorite. Yeah.

Reporter: (33:03)
You got some showmanship there. [inaudible 00:33:04].

If I ain’t Roy Jones, what good does it do me to perform? You know, people want to see Roy Jones. They don’t want to see me go out there and fight unlike myself. So I got to be Roy Jones.

Reporter: (33:13)

Hey, thank you for giving me the opportunity, brother. Thank you for putting on a hell of a show. Yeah, thank you brother. Thank you.

Reporter: (33:24)

I mean they got to be honored to fight with me or Mike on the under card, you know what I mean? So that’s the biggest fight probably last 30 years they say, so how could they not be completely overwhelmed by having their names on the under card of that event, you know what I mean? So it’s like for me, I feel like it was very inspirational for them and I’m glad it was. That was the other reason I didn’t mind doing it, because I knew that the younger fighters on the card would really get a kick out of it. And they would be able to say that they fought on the under card, one of the biggest exhibitions ever.

Reporter: (34:14)

I really wanted to put on a show too and go for the W, but the show they must have, you know what I mean? So it’s like, you want to get a W, but you definitely to put on a show. So I had to give them some of the razzle dazzle, hands down. And it’s like to me, the normal person would be stupid to be in front of Mike Tyson with the hands down, but that’s who Roy Jones is, so I had to do it.

Reporter: (34:46)
[inaudible 00:00:34:51].

It’s not really fair to ask me that because I don’t really have good sense about boxing. If somebody calls me, I’ll say, “I do.” So it’s not really fair to ask me, you should ask my other counsel because I’m not really too smart. I don’t know how to say no. So thank God boxing ain’t drugs because I’d never say no. So I don’t really know what to tell you right now. If it’s me, course you know me, I’m wanting to get back in there. And but it’s not just about me.

Of course, it’s You Almost Forgot part 2, is about a hit bang up volume two in the works. The song I came into the ring on tonight, my son did the beat to that. Yes. We’re always working man. It’s just like I said, God is good to be able to have such an event, such a big event at a time like this, with the pandemic being the way it is.

Like I said, people not having nothing positive to look up to or look forward to, this gave them something positive to look forward to. It gave them entertainment. People got a chance to get together, have fight parties, do all the old school things that they used to do. They ain’t did them a long time. They haven’t found really a fight worthy of them doing that in a long time, you understand me? This gave people an opportunity to relapse and remember what the good times were like. And I loved that we were able to be a part of that. That meant more to me than anything. So even if something bad were to happen to me, I’d been happy that I gave people something that they wanted to see. They didn’t want to see me get hurt. Of course, which I thank God that didn’t happen. They didn’t want to see him getting hurt either, but because we both came out healthy and cool, everybody should have had a great night.

Reporter: (36:41)

Thank y’all.

Mike Tyson: (38:26)
So can I take this off, up here?

Reporter: (38:28)
Yes.

Mike Tyson: (38:39)
Thank you very much. Thank you.

Reporter: (38:44)

Mike Tyson: (38:44)
Well, I don’t know. I’m just, I’m happy I’m not knocked out or anything. So I think I’ll be better the next one.

Reporter: (38:53)

Mike Tyson: (39:06)
It’s my mentality. But my trainers and my sparing partners kicked my ass so bad and I’ll never call a fighter a bum again. I took my youth for granted and then this actual event made me find out what I really was made out of because they really beat me to death.

Reporter: (39:31)
[ inaudible 00:39:29].

Mike Tyson: (39:34)
I could have done everything better. Everything I was doing, I could have done it better. So God willing, I be better in the next or exhibition.

Mike Tyson: (39:52)
He was very smart and very difficult to hit him with a solid punch. And if I did catch him with a good punch, he played possum really well. He didn’t let me know he hurt or I hurt him or anything.

Reporter: (40:02)

Mike Tyson: (40:06)
I was just happy to be in there with him and just go to eight rounds. That didn’t mean nothing to me to score cards didn’t mean nothing to me. The, the lack of fans didn’t make anything of it. I was just happy to go the distance because I was used to doing it with the three minutes rounds so I said, “Why not just go the distance?” And everybody know I can knock somebody out if I did. I said, I think going to distance, that’s real fighting. Having the endurance and going the distance because you’re not going to knock everybody out. I’ve learned that in my early experience.

Mike Tyson: (40:39)
Yeah.

Reporter: (40:42)

Mike Tyson: (40:48)
I don’t know. Maybe we do something in the South of France, Monaco, or San Tropez. We do something out there. One of the European fighters out there or something. Anything’s possible. Sky’s the limit. I believe he broke all the records on Pay Per View concerning boxing. We did a really kick butt on there.

Mike Tyson: (41:10)
I just want to continue to do this from a humanitarian perspective.

Mike Tyson: (41:16)
Thank you so kindly.

Reporter: (41:19)

Mike Tyson: (41:23)
Well, I’ll do it in the next one then.

Mike Tyson: (41:31)
Absolutely. I wanted to, I wanted to go the distance. This is all about going to distance and that’s what I wanted to do. I really am really interested in that. I’ve been training for this as I got older, I’m training for duration now, before I would always be interested in the quick kill.

Mike Tyson: (41:46)
And I really learned, at 54 I really learned that I didn’t know nothing when I was the champ. That was just youth.

Reporter: (41:54)

Mike Tyson: (41:57)
My body feels splendid. I want to beat it up some more.

Reporter: (42:00)

Mike Tyson: (42:05)
Excuse me?

Reporter: (42:05)

Mike Tyson: (42:07)
Because it feels great now. And that’s different than getting beat up. I’m used to being beat up. It’s used to that feeling.

Reporter: (42:14)

Mike Tyson: (42:22)
I’m capable of helping a lot of people, less fortunate than myself. That’s what I’m capable of doing all over the world. In a perfect world I’m a missionary, in a perfect world.

Reporter: (42:35)

Mike Tyson: (42:35)
Well, what I’m doing in the ring, I realized is a gift, not only for myself. Before, it was all about me and the hot chick, the nice car, the planes and the boats, and it doesn’t do it for me anymore. So I went another way. I help somebody else, I guess. Right? Cause I don’t get into that no more. I like my pigeons and my fancy clothes. But other than that, I don’t want anything out of life. Isn’t that a trip? My pigeons and my clothes. You know, of course my children and my wife, but it’s my pigeons and my clothes. You know my pigeons and my clothes are my joint. Ain’t that something? My joint.

Reporter: (43:23)

Mike Tyson: (43:24)
Absolutely coming down. Yeah. Well listen, I can’t stop smoking. I was, I smoked during fights. I used to have to smoke. I’m sorry. I’m a smoker.

Mike Tyson: (43:36)
I smoke every day, I never stopped smoking.

Reporter: (43:39)

Mike Tyson: (43:39)
Absolutely. Yes.

Reporter: (43:39)

Mike Tyson: (43:50)
It’s just who I am. It has no effect on me from a negative standpoint. It’s just what I do and who I am and how I’m going to die. There’s no explanation. There’s no beginning, there’s no end.

Mike Tyson: (44:08)
No, it just numbs me. It doesn’t numb the pain.

Mike Tyson: (44:25)
That’s what it’s all about. I’ve done everything for myself. So what happens if I die? No, really what happens? I may begin to live when I die. No one knows what dying is like. It has to be beautiful. Dying can’t be bad because living is great so dying has to be something special.

Mike Tyson: (45:06)
Wow. No one has ever asked me that. The thought of failure never creeped through my mind. I never, is that failure? I don’t know. I don’t know. That was a hell of a question.

Reporter: (45:16)
[inaudible 00:00:45:17].

Mike Tyson: (45:18)
No, in a way of, I just had, how do I answer that question? I never think of my, I always, God forgive me. God, I always think of myself as grandeur. I would think of myself as a roaring gladiator like Alexander The Great. I feel like I’m a ruler when I’m in my mind thinking about accomplishing something. I think possible. Nothing’s impossible to somebody who tries. So I never think about failure in that perspective. I think about failing, but not in that perspective.

Reporter: (45:55)

Mike Tyson: (45:56)
No, I need the pressure. Without the pressure there’s no me. Without the pressure I don’t have the guts to say, “Hey, I’m going to fight this guy.” I have to have the pressure. Anything that I’m afraid to do, I do it. If when I was young, when I was afraid to ask out a beautiful girl, whoever I would do it. Even if she was saying no, I would just do it just because I was afraid to do it. And that’s just how I lived my life. I lived to be humbled.

Reporter: (46:25)

Mike Tyson: (46:32)
I don’t think six feet from a material standpoint, it’s an inside job. It’s just an inside job. The more you’re comfortable with you, the more you be comfortable with death and the more comfortable you are with death, the more peace you are with yourself.

Reporter: (47:02)
I didn’t have any memories, I just knew I belonged here. This is where I belong. I never once, even when I first, my first day sparring and I got my rib cracked and a guy was just, he was just mashing my jaw. I never once said, “What the hell am I doing here? Am I crazy?” I said, “Wow, I’m in the right place.” You know? I said, “I’m in the right place.”

Mike Tyson: (47:28)
Excuse me, please say that again.

Mike Tyson: (47:38)
I don’t think, I don’t know. I just, I was just happy to be in there. I was just happy to be in there and I never think of myself as old. I think of myself as energy. Another say, some 54 year old guy, cause some 54 year old guy who is going to come to the ring. I always say some energy to coming into the ring and never think of my age. Listen, before Julius Caesar, he told us that 365 days is a year. So we don’t know.

Mike Tyson: (48:03)
He told us that 365 days of the year so we don’t really know how old we are, so the energy makes us as old as we want to be. Without being those, what’s that thing again, when you’re old guy, you drive little young guy sports car, what’s that mean? My wife always says I’m that way. Midlife crisis, yeah. I don’t think it’s a midlife crisis with me, I just think it’s my ego and my ego tells me to do things that I’m afraid to do.

Mike Tyson: (48:39)
Just getting my ass kicked. My nose hurt right now, yeah. Very happy I did this. I will do it again. Listen, whatever I want to see come out of it, what I anticipate seeing is really almost there. We’re going to take this place, the sky’s the limit with this place. We have so many great legends that are so, it’s just an array of them that are so interested in jumping on board and being involved with this program.

Mike Tyson: (49:24)
Listen, I had, what, 15 fights in one year. So let’s just try to work on closer to that. It has to be competitive where it’s constant, no one can get out of shape because everybody’s fighting. It’d be consistent. I would like to have them once every two months, my personal opinion. I don’t like that one fight every two months.

Mike Tyson: (49:52)
The first time I ever did [inaudible 00:49:53] when y’all saw that and I got these two billion impressions, after that I was in the bed for a couple of days, I couldn’t get up. I had sciatica. Can you believe that combination gave me sciatica?

Mike Tyson: (50:05)
Excuse me? I’m going to work out. It’s become my life style now I’m never going to be that guy, I don’t know, fat Mike again and stuff, cocaine Mike, I ain’t going to be that guy no more.

Mike Tyson: (50:21)
Well they probably could take me now, but can they take me 10 fights later? After I have 10 fights? Or 10 exhibitions, please forgive me. And then maybe after that, maybe we can exhibition, the people who are saying what you’re saying. Maybe we can have exhibition probably after 10 more of these that I have. No, I wanted the exhibition narrative because from that perspective, I could work my charity better than being in professional fights and I’m fighting for my life and I want the belt and this and that and there’s pressure on me, there’s no pressure. My only pressure is that I won’t have enough product to help the people who need to be helped in this particular situation, that is.

Mike Tyson: (51:29)
Yes, Grassroot Charities, friends of mine that’s holding down the community, involved with stopping the killing and stopping the crime. And those are the guys that I’m involved with that want to help the youth, the next generation. And we don’t want to lose the next generation to drugs and pandemics and everything. We have pride in our community, which is Brownsville, Brooklyn and it’s just Brooklyn in general. And just anybody, we have charities in Newport Beach. It’s just, we’re doing a lot. We’re doing a lot with little stuff. And so me doing these exhibitions and receiving things that helps, that really helps.

Mike Tyson: (52:19)
I didn’t wake up, I didn’t sleep last night. No. No sleep. I’m just one of those scary guys. I don’t sleep when I’m involved with the competitive stuff.

Mike Tyson: (52:47)
The old Mike Tyson no longer exist. No, I just, this was a new occasion for me. I was a bit nervous, but I looked at the situation, hey, this is a better cause than me. Why am I nervous? This is going to be good. I didn’t expect to do any of that I just expect to go to eight rounds and entertain the crowd and be able to do what I want to do in these grassroots situations. And that was beautiful. And the fact that me and Roy, we broke records to our championship fights tonight. Everybody’s watching and I’m really grateful to that. I’m really grateful for that. Really, I am.

Mike Tyson: (54:08)
I’m here for a purpose, I’m not here for my ego. My ego is taking the money and buying some planes or some nice houses and packing up a bunch of chicks and have some orgies and stuff. This is not who that is right now. That guy was just somebody that had to be, eventually he was a platform to become me. Informing them that they deserve this opportunity that they have and to make the best of it. Luke, what’s his name? Paul? Jake Paul got 4 million subscribers that follow him. Can you imagine that? I didn’t know he existed until my- excuse me? You heard that? He got 25 million. I didn’t know he existed until my son wanted to fight him one day. I said, who you going to fight, this guy? Come on. And he was a big star. Everybody knows who he is and I’m so happy that he joined on the bandwagon with me and Roy. Well, listen, my ego says so many things, but my reality is they help boxing so much. Boxing owe these guys, they owe all these YouTube boxers some kind of respect. They should give them some belts because these guys make boxing alive. Boxing was pretty much a dying sport, UFC was kicking our butt. And now we’ve got these YouTube boxers boxing [inaudible 00:55:59] 25 million views, boxing’s going back thanks to the YouTube boxers.

Mike Tyson: (56:10)
I believe the more anyone box, the bigger it is for the [inaudible 00:56:13] boxing has took a couple of beatings since the UFC has been around. Boxing never have too many belts because every time there’s a championship fight, that’s more money for the fighter, so there’s never enough belts. So just say there’s one champion, he got 10 guys. How long do you think he’s going to go through these 10 guys? Plus they got to fight each other and take each other out. So listen, he’s really no fight. So it’s good to have three champions and every time there’s a fight, the commission, everybody can get paid their money, their percentage of whatever they charge and it’s beautiful, everybody makes money. That’s what this business is about, money. It’s not about ego here, I don’t like him and who he’s with so I’m not going to fight him.

Mike Tyson: (57:01)
If he’s your friend, your fight can make each other money. [inaudible 00:57:05] got to be friends and you’re both fighters and one guys a big star, you’re hardly eating and he said he’s your friend. That’s how fighters did it in the old time, they fight each other and make each other money and help each other. That’s what it should be like now. I shouldn’t say, I’m not going to fight him because I don’t like his promoter. Hey, listen. I’m a old ass guy when it comes to that stuff, I don’t have no energy for that no more. I’m just with the wife and kids.

Mike Tyson: (57:48)
And that is beautiful. Jake Paul, him and his brother, man, they are God gifted YouTube boxers. Boxing should just give them a belt. Because these guys have brought boxing back to life and I know it’s hard to believe, but these guys brought it back, 25 million views to see this guy with some gloves on, the fight, he fought Nate Robinson tonight right? Oh God. I like Nate, too, I didn’t like to see the knockout.

Mike Tyson: (58:21)
No way, man. We got to do whatever somebody or any legend wants to do. Jerry Rice, Macarone, his brother, they still feel they can play anybody that anyone said, hey, you retired, you’re no good no more, but you still got to, you still beautiful. Jerry Rice got it. I got it. You know how many guys like Tom Brady that could play forever. That’s just the way it is. people still want to, even if we’re not as fast as we used to be, because this is how Legends Only League got into existence. I’m watching Jerry Rice, I don’t know what it is beyond the glory, whatever it is, and this guy, he runs the five, four, something to that extent, I don’t know the football. So he’s like a few seconds off that so he can’t play no more.

Mike Tyson: (59:08)
Wow, can you believe this man? He’s a few seconds off his world best record so that means you’re no good, you can’t play no more. But there’s guys that want to see him run more than they want to see the guy that plays his position now on a team he didn’t make. So what’s that mean? We can’t watch Jerry no more? Really? We can’t watch Jerry no more just because he’s a few seconds slower. So I think Jerry Rice, he could find a bunch of friends that are like him in shape and they stayed in shape and they still have their speed and they could have opened up an organization or commission. And they could do it in tennis. But I guess race car, you can do that at any age, but still, there’ll be other sports Well this is all I have to say about that brother. You saw tonight, no boxer promoter was involved. And that’s why if we had tennis and people came to see the Legends Only tennis, we have different rules. You could break your tennis rep, you can talk crap to the other guy. This is called freestyle. And I think that is good because some of the restrictions really suffocate the athletes and they can’t express their feelings so they can’t play at the heights potentially that they normally play, because the restrictions of the rules. I can’t tell you Mike Tyson is because I’m only 54 years old. And if I’m 54 years old and I can tell you everything about me and I know who I am, I’m very limited in my thinking. So I don’t know really that much, I guess I just want to be who I am. I like who I am. I never liked who I was before, I like who I am now. I don’t know. Maybe Evander needs to talk to me because every time my business associates talk to his business associate, it doesn’t turn out well. So I don’t know if these guys really, if you could see what we made tonight, if these guys really cared about the welfare of Evander, they would have had this fight with Evander. Maybe we could do another, but whoever he’s with is handling it totally wrong.

Mike Tyson: (01:02:11)
Excuse me? I know nothing about the growth. That’s not my department, that’s never been my department. I just know about the people in the crowds and the viewers and all that stuff. I don’t know. You’ll find that out before me, I’m sure. It’s really my pleasure, thank you.

Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. Post-Fight Press Conference Transcript

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