Bob Arum has revealed that he could not satisfy Mike Tyson to continue promoting him under Top Rank early in his career.

Those comments may be a shock, given how Tyson’s career panned out. He became the World’s Undisputed Heavyweight Champion, beating Tony Tucker in 1987. He also became the youngest-ever boxer to win the heavyweight title, being 20 at the time. The impressive nature of Tyson’s KO wins made him one of the most feared boxers. In his first year as a professional, Tyson fought 15 times, some of which were under Top Rank. All the victories came by knockouts, making it difficult for Arum to provide Tyson with the required dates since he fought so often.

Arum On Tyson

“We were doing weekly fight shows on ESPN. We did those for 15 years, really, essentially developing fighters on those shows. Tyson was just starting out and we booked him for a whole series of fights. But the problem was he was so intimidating, that he knocked out any opponent that we got him in one round and that wasn’t good for the network that relied on selling commercial time. 

“I think what happened was outside of the ring Tyson misbehaved, and the only way the management could figure out how to keep him out of trouble, was to find him a fight as often as possible.  And we had all these other fighters that we had put on the programme, and so we couldn’t have Tyson fighting on the show, every week or every other week so his management looked for opportunities elsewhere,” Arum said

Paul vs Tyson

Fans are now gearing up for the chance to see Tyson in the ring once again. He will face Jake Paul on July 20, which will be aired on Netflix. It is the first time the platform has aired a boxing event, showing the magnitude of the event. However, the fight has received criticism over safety concerns. There is a three-decade gap between the two.

Tyson will be 58 by the time of the fight, while Paul is 28. This has raised worries that it may not get sanctioned as a professional fight. Tyson’s last fight was an exhibition against Roy Jones in 2020.
Meanwhile, Paul is coming off first-round KO wins against Ryan Bourland and Andre August. KSI is the latest person to criticise Paul. He shared a mock poster of himself alongside George Foreman with the following comments below.