World’s oldest boxer thinks Mike Tyson ‘could KO Jake Paul in a minute’ but believes fight may be bad news for boxing legend

The world’s oldest boxer, Steve Ward, has expressed serious concerns about Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul.

Ward fought until he was 64, so he has a unique insight into the cross-match between Tyson, who will be 58 on fight night, and a man 31 years his junior.

In his last fight, Ward retired from the sport by knocking out 50-year-old Adrian Parlogea in one round, four days before his 65th birthday.

The Nottingham puncher encourages Tyson to do the same against Paul on July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

However, he has reservations about whether Tyson will be allowed to unleash his full strength on “The Problem Child.”

“Personally, I think Mike Tyson could go straight in and knock him out in a minute, just completely skim him,” Ward told talkSPORT.com

“But are they going to allow that? Or is there something nasty going on in the background that says ‘You’re not knocking him out, Mike? Well, that’s all up for grabs.'”

If Tyson “holds back the reins,” as Ward puts it, then he fears “Iron Mike” will lose the respect of the boxing fraternity.

“For me personally, I wish the fight had never happened, because if it’s like that and Mike is holding back on the reins, it only looks bad for one person, Mike Tyson,” he said. -he continued.

“I wouldn’t want him to lose his respect and I really think if he holds back that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

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“So it’s a shameful thing. I wish it never started.”

Ward retired from professional boxing in 1987 after injuring his foot in a workplace accident, but made a miraculous return to the ring 23 years later to defeat Gregg Scott-Briggs.

He knows from personal experience how difficult it is to return to the sport after a long absence and sympathizes with the “agony” Tyson will endure to get back into shape.

“It’s embarrassing. First of all, you have to really want to do it,” he added.

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

“So it’s a place in this ring, the loneliest place on earth, where you can get seriously injured if you’re not up to it.

“So to understand it, you have to really want to do it and you have to know what it all entails. It’s agony.

“Training is real agony. When I did mine (return to boxing), I trained up to 10 hours, 12 hours a day because you could get cold.

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

“So I can imagine Mike had a tough job, he had to get back into shape. From what I’ve seen, his quick combinations are looking the part.

“But a quick combination can be seen quickly and then you can go a little crazy. I hope that’s not the case, I hope he’s really training to reach that magnificent peak. Once again , I want him to do Paul.”