Butterbean might not be the same bloke he was 20 years ago – but that didn’t stop him from calling out Jake Paul and Mike Tyson for a scrap.
The 57-year-old offered the duo out back in 2022, two years before Tyson and Paul’s fight was announced, and then laid into the YouTuber – making it clear who he thinks will come out on top on July 20.
Paul and Tyson will battle it out at the AT&T Arena in Texas, and while Butterbean hasn’t revealed his thoughts on the event itself, his previous comments suggest he only sees the fight going one way.
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He told The Sun in 2022: “I’m not a typical boxer, I go out there to fight. I want to knock somebody out. Jake Paul or Mike Tyson. Jake Paul runs his mouth too much, he’s never fought nobody, I would love to fight him.”
Butterbean last fought in 2013 but has plans to return to boxing after undergoing a staggering lifestyle change.
The retired fighter, real name Eric Esch, is unrecognisable from his boxing days having lost a significant amount of weight thanks to the DDP Yoga programme, founded by WWE icon Diamond Dallas Page.
He added in 2022: “I think people would like to see me and Tyson go at it, which would be a hell of a draw. Me and Tyson are actually friends but I don’t mind fighting friends.”
Butterbean previously had a fight offer from Tyson in 2020 but couldn’t accept the bout due to his weight ballooning to a whopping 500 pounds.
“I was in that dark place,” he admitted. “There was no way it was possible. I’m alive right now, I’m good to go. And Mike is in great shape, it would be a hell of a fight. We’d both come to fight, Mike ain’t going to run from me. That’s where his big mistake would be. I sparred with Buster Mathis a lot, so I know Tyson’s style.”
The anxiety over Tyson stepping into the ring with Paul, who is 30 years his junior, recently skyrocketed after the former heavyweight champions faced a health scare on a flight to Los Angeles.
Tyson, also aged 57, experienced nausea and dizziness aboard a plane, sparking concerns he might have had a stomach ulcer flare-up.
However, Tyson reassured his followers about his health status on X/Twitter, posting: “Now feeling 100 per cent even though I don’t need to be to beat Jake Paul”.