If you were looking for betting advice from Andre Ward on the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight ... search elsewhere -- the former boxing superstar tells TMZ Sports it's so close between the two, he has absolutely "no idea" how things will shake out.
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00:00You know, normally you've got a feeling, okay, this guy's got the advantage in this fight.
00:05That guy's got the advantage.
00:06This one, I truly have no idea because you've got this guy who was a legend in Mike Tyson,
00:11but he's near 60 years old against Jake Paul.
00:13I mean, what the hell's going to happen?
00:16What's going to happen tomorrow night?
00:17I have no idea.
00:20That's why that's one of the main reasons why there's so much interest in the fight.
00:24Some people are taking the moral high road.
00:26At least they say they are.
00:27I'm not watching it, but I believe they're going to be watching too.
00:30It's going to be tens of thousands of people at AT&T Stadium.
00:33You just don't know what to make of it.
00:35If it's the average 58-year-old, you kind of sort of know how this thing is going to
00:40go.
00:41We're talking about Mike Tyson.
00:42If it's a 58-year-old that I'm not worried about, it's him.
00:45And then you have, you know, another quantity, you know, in Jake Paul who, you know, most
00:52didn't take him serious in the fight space, but he's forcing your hand.
00:57He's forcing your hand to pay attention.
00:59He's forcing your hand to, if not be a believer, to at least tune in, to root against him.
01:04He's done that.
01:06And he's a fighter who's slowly getting better, but then he keeps upping the ante with the
01:11level of comp and the name of fighter that he's facing.
01:15And now he's in there with Mike Tyson.
01:17I don't know what to make of it.
01:18I want Mike to win.
01:19I grew up watching Mike.
01:20I don't want to see nothing bad happen to Mike.
01:23I don't know, bro.
01:26I'm glad that you say that because it's, yeah, it's impossible to even try and predict.
01:30You could see it going both ways, I think.
01:32I saw the photos of Mike at the weigh-in, Andre.
01:36Mike's body looks right.
01:37It looks like, if that's any indication at least, that he's been taking training seriously.
01:42What's your read on that?
01:44Has Mike really trained hard for this fight and has he prepared himself to get back in
01:47that ring after a couple years away?
01:49I believe he has.
01:50I believe Mike has been training for four or five months for this fight.
01:53They had an original day in the summer that got pushed back.
01:55I think as soon as Mike got a clean bill of health, he got back in the gym.
01:59We did an interview with him on All the Smoke, our platform on YouTube.
02:04Check it out, man.
02:05It's a beautiful interview, man.
02:06That interview will make you cry, laugh, and it'll make you think because Mike displayed
02:12himself and talked in a way I've never heard him talk before.
02:15When the man walked in the room to do the interview, I had to get myself together because
02:21he's like a tank.
02:22He just walked in, he's got this presence about him, and he's like, hey, brother, how
02:26are you?
02:27I'm looking at the muscles jumping out of his shirt, and I kind of give him a hug.
02:32I'm like, what's up, Mike?
02:33I'm like, man, bro, you really training for this.
02:36He's like, I train all day.
02:38When I got done talking to Mike and I got done seeing his physique through the shirt,
02:44he made me a believer.
02:45I forgot about his age that quick.
02:48Wow.
02:49And that interview, by the way, was phenomenal, Andre, and people should absolutely check
02:53it out.
02:54It's awesome, awesome stuff.
02:56You talked about Jake Paul and a lot of people who said, hey, you know, either he's making
03:00a mockery of the sport at first, but then he is seemingly really committed himself to
03:04the sport.
03:05He seems to like the sport, respect the sport, and work hard at it.
03:09Have you, as a guy who is truly one of the best boxers of all time, have you been?
03:14Impressed with Jake Paul from what you've seen?
03:17I wouldn't say impressed with, you know, his boxing ability, but what I am impressed with
03:22is his dedication.
03:23You know, I know the guys that he has in his camp, the trainers, the different guys, the
03:26conditioning guys.
03:27He's taking it serious.
03:28You got to respect that.
03:29You know, it's some fighters who have the pedigree.
03:31They have, you know, the world at their fingertips and they don't dedicate themselves.
03:36Jake didn't come from a boxing background, and for him to put this much attention to
03:40detail and just put that kind of effort into it, I respect it.
03:44And of course, on the way up, you know, his matchmaking is very, very, you know, specific
03:49and he's trying to pick the right guys, and rightfully so, because he doesn't have the
03:52deep amateur background.
03:54So I respect it.
03:55I'm not a hater of Jake Paul.
03:58Don't knock the hustle, man.
03:59He brought his fan base over here.
04:01They're tuning in.
04:02And if fighters have a problem with it, step your game up.
04:06Do you think that the, especially the boxers, Andre, are the boxers starting to come around
04:10a little, like the boxing community starting to come around a little bit and realizing
04:14that, like, hey, he is bringing more eyeballs.
04:17Maybe people who wouldn't have been boxing fans in the past, now they're watching.
04:21They like the sport.
04:22Do you think this sport's starting to realize that he has been like a net positive?
04:26If I had to guess from the fighters that I talked to, I would say no.
04:33Because you know, we're hardcore.
04:35So they're looking at all that they had to do to get to where they're at.
04:39And many feel like he cut the line.
04:40Again, I don't see it like that.
04:42I see it as a guy who built a fan base, got it out the mud.
04:45It's different than how a fighter got it out the mud, but he got it out the mud.
04:48And they followed him over.
04:50You can't knock that.
04:51You can't be mad at that.
04:52And boxing is in the mainstream, right?
04:55Boxing is being talked about every time he fights.
04:57He's selling out arenas.
04:59He's in the discussion.
05:01So I don't knock it.
05:02I think many fighters do.
05:03But man, putting on events like this, man, it's hard.
05:07It's getting harder and harder for guys to at least not tip their cap and say, man, I
05:10respect us.
05:11So when we're watching the fight on Friday, I think maybe the conventional wisdom has
05:16been like, OK, if it's going to go Mike's way, then it goes Mike's way early.
05:21And if it's seventh, eighth round, perhaps that means it's positive for Jake Paul.
05:28What should we look at?
05:29What do we look at to say, OK, hey, Mike's in control here or Jake's in control?
05:33Are there any key aspects, keys to winning that you see for each guy?
05:38Well, I think, as you mentioned, Mike is very, very dangerous throughout the whole fight,
05:42but more so early in the fight.
05:43It's eight two-minute rounds.
05:44So the first four rounds is very, very key for Mike Tyson to establish himself.
05:48Try to hit Jake Paul with something that gets his attention and let Jake know that, yeah,
05:52I'm 58, but I'm still Mike Tyson.
05:53The thing I'm going to be looking for with Mike is, how is he getting those punches off?
05:56Are they crispy?
05:57Is he too slow at his age, or can he still get a good shot through?
06:01Because with Mike, as we know, it only takes one good one.
06:04Also looking at Mike's defense, can Mike get out the way?
06:07Because just like Mike can hit, so can Jake Paul.
06:09Jake Paul can't hit like Mike, but he can hit hard enough.
06:11And we've seen Jake knock guys out with one hit or quitters, the fight is over.
06:15So my biggest concern with Mike Tyson is, as the fight goes on, I know for a fact I
06:20can listen to the conversation.
06:22I hear the things Jake is saying.
06:24I'm looking at his history, and I see the body language.
06:26He wants to knock out Mike Tyson.
06:28He doesn't care about the bad press after.
06:30He doesn't care about people saying he's 58 years old.
06:32He wants that name on his resume.
06:35Will you be able to tell, Andre, for the most part, how this thing is going to go in the
06:38first 30 seconds or so, when you see how each guy, but especially how Mike, is moving?
06:45Not the first 30, because everybody's still feeling themselves out and feeling each other
06:48out and trying to gauge their range.
06:50But midway through, right around three or four, I'm going to see, okay, Jake is trying
06:54to line Mike up, or Mike may be getting a little tired, or no, Mike's still fresh.
06:59But midway through, three, four, somewhere around there, that'll give all of us a clear
07:03picture of how this fight is going.
07:06Does any of this make you want to get back in there, Andre?
07:08I know, obviously, some people have talked at length about you retired at such a young
07:12guy in your prime.
07:15We're about the same age.
07:16We're young compared to Mike, I guess.
07:19Does this make you say, hey, it's not a bad paycheck either, but I'm kind of into this?
07:27The event makes you want to come back.
07:29The payday makes you want to come back.
07:31But then you start thinking about all the stuff you got to do to actually get to the
07:34event, and that's when I'm discouraged all over again, and I remind myself that I made
07:38a good decision.
07:39Getting to the fight, that's the problem, is getting through two or three months of
07:44training camp, as far as three days a week and all that, that's the problem.
07:48We were talking to Steven Espinosa this morning, I said, what do you think they're going to
07:51make?
07:52He's like, oh, you know, at least 30 to 40 million.
07:53I'm like, that's not too bad for like 16 minutes of work, but right, it's not 16 minutes
07:57of work, right?
07:59That's the fun part, I guess.
08:00It's a beautiful payday, nonetheless.
08:02It's not a bad shot in the arm for Mike at this stage, and it's not a bad shot in the
08:05arm for either one of them.
08:06No, I'd take that shot in the arm.
08:07Any day of the week.