Jake Paul has been called out for a street fight by bare-knuckle boxing champion Mike Perry.
Perry is a former UFC contender who crossed over to bare-knuckle boxing two years ago and has since become a household name in the sport. 'Platinum' has beaten the likes of Michael 'Venom' Page and Eddie Alvarez in the ring and he even faced off with UFC legend Conor McGregor after his win against Luke Rockhold last April.
A fight against Paul is one that interests Perry as he told TMZ : "Jake Paul, man. If he hurts Mike Tyson, bro, let me get that. He’s not doing bare-knuckle, but I wouldn’t put it past Jake Paul because he’s been doing stuff that people would say he’s afraid of and things like that. That’s partly what drew me to bare-knuckle was that so many were worried about it or afraid of it.
"I’m like, ‘It seems real to me.’ So Jake, man, definitely issuing you a challenge. If you get through Mike Tyson, test yourself for real and let’s have a street fight. F*** Jake, he’s got some [talent] but I’d like to say I’m beating him as fast as he’s beating these taxi drivers, especially bare-knuckle. I’ll hurt him and he’ll cry and run away and cower in the corner in the fetal position.”
Perry sparred Paul before the influencer's fight against Ben Askren three years ago, with the UFC star later admitting he got his 'a** kicked'. Perry was also on standby to fight Paul's brother Logan last October and even faced off with him, but the YouTuber ended up fighting McGregor's teammate Dillon Danis.
Paul vs Tyson is being targeted as a professional bout despite Tyson hanging up his gloves almost two decades ago, only returning for a one-off exhibition with Roy Jones Jr. in November 2020. If the fight is sanctioned as an exhibition bout, they will both wear 16-ounce gloves and no judges will score the fight.
"It’s crazy to think that in my second pro fight, I went viral for knocking out Nate Robinson on Mike Tyson’s undercard. Now, less than four years later, I’m stepping up to face Tyson myself My sights are set on becoming a world champion, and now I have a chance to prove myself against the greatest heavyweight champion ever, the baddest man on the planet," Paul said of the fight.
