Frank Warren compares Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul with ‘watching a car accident’

On By Littum

Leading boxing promoter Frank Warren will be one of the many millions on November 15 tuning in to Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul on Netflix, not knowing exactly what to expect – except utter mayhem.

“(Of course) I want to (watch Tyson vs. Paul),” Warren shared Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show”. “It’s like watching a car crash; that’s what we do, people do.”

The “car crash” analogy of Queensberry Promotions founder Warren is perhaps the best way to describe the controversial bout. Even critics who know that maybe what they’re seeing shouldn’t happen, that there’s a chance that the 58-year-old Tyson will be seriously hurt by the 27-year-old Paul, probably won’t be able to take their eyes away from the play as the first bell rings from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

“I really, really have the utmost respect for Jake and his team,” Warren said. “They’re really good people. I’ve worked with them and they’ve been a pleasure to work with. A 58-year-old guy struggling; I’m not a big fan of that. Of course, I I’m not a big fan of that , and guys that age shouldn’t fight.

“But they have a mind of their own. The governing body — whoever it is, is in Texas — they’ve allowed it to happen. As long as it’s medically regulated, as long as everybody knows — and they know for sure — what the risks are to go into it, it’s their choice. me, it’s not something I want to support, but we’re in a democracy, and if people want to climb a mountain, if they want to dive to the depths of the ocean, they’ll go up in a rocket in space, that is their choice Sometimes people need to protect themselves from themselves.

There are several adaptations of Tyson vs. Paul to make it safer than a regular high level professional boxing match. The rounds will last two minutes instead of the three-minute rounds usually used in men’s fights, and the boxing gloves will weigh 14 ounces instead of the 10-ounce gloves typically worn by boxers competing at more than 147 pounds.

Fight fans fell in love with the powerful Tyson of the 1980s and Warren believes a similarly aggressive performance could be seen next Friday – for the first round or so. But the British promoter isn’t sure what the former heavyweight champion will be able to showcase past the opening stanza.

“One thing about the fight, I think probably in one round you’re going to have a vintage Mike Tyson come out and do what he does,” Warren said. “After that we’ll see where he goes. I remember fighting years ago against him and Danny Williams (in 2004). And I said to Danny Williams then, ‘Let me tell you, in two rounds is you’ll think it’s World War 3. After that, we’ll see what happens and you have the ability to hit him after that happens,’ and that’s what we did.

“What’s next Mike? Who knows? But one thing’s for sure: It’s getting record viewing because people want to buy into it. Rightly or wrongly, it’s like a car crash, as I said at the start of this. People put speeding down the highway to see what happens.”

Warren’s Queensberry Promotions announced on Sunday a landmark multi-year media rights deal with sports broadcaster DAZN. From April 1, 2025, Warren’s boxing events will be broadcast exclusively on DAZN worldwide.

This came as a bit of a surprise to some in the boxing world as Warren was highly critical of DAZN when rival Matchroom Boxing switched to the streaming platform for its UK cards in 2021.

“For me, the big thing was the leadership they brought on board and what’s happened,” Warren said when asked why his opinion of DAZN has changed. “And I’m happy, this is a big step forward. My son George, who is the CEO of Queensberry, he was instrumental in bringing it all together. At the end of the day, as a team, him and the rest of the directors , it’s something we feel is the right place for Queensberry to be now. There will be some extra dates for us and it’s going to be something special.

“And the fact that there are other promoters there, as you mentioned earlier with Eddie (Hearn), obviously with Oscar (De La Hoya), there are some big fights to be had out there between all of our different companies and I feel that it will be great for boxing, and more importantly, great for the viewers and the fans.”

The Hall of Fame promoter confirmed that the deal between Queensberry and DAZN is “multi-year,” but declined to give the exact number of years when asked. Warren also declined to disclose the number of contracted shows per year, but said Queensberry will do more events than it currently does. Excluding Saudi Arabia’s “Riyadh Season” events, Queensberry will promote 14 UK shows on TNT Sports in 2024.

Regarding Queensberry’s early 2025 schedule, Warren also confirmed that top New Zealand heavyweight Joseph Parker is in contention to challenge for Daniel Dubois’ IBF title on February 22 following news that Anthony Joshua is unlikely to will rematch with Dubois on that date.

“It’s one of the fights we’re considering,” Warren said. “There are a few options and it’s a great fight by the way, but there are a lot of good fights there for Daniel. The heavyweight division at the moment is very, very sexy. There are some great fights to be made (for Dubois).

“A lot of them are very competitive against guys who are all winning fighters, they’re not losing fighters. So whatever we decide to do, I promise you it’s going to be a great fight. But we’re looking at a couple of them. fighting there and I’m not evasive, but before we can announce it, as I said earlier, through the Riyadh season (Turki Alalshikh), we all have to be on the same page. Everyone has to accept the terms, and when we do, we will we announce a fight that I think everyone will love.”