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IRON IN THE FIRE
Jake Paul admits Mike Tyson is ‘by far’ his No1 target for next fight but says Tommy Fury grudge match CAN still happen
JAKE PAUL revealed Mike Tyson is "by far" the No1 target for his next fight - but a grudge match with Tommy Fury CAN still happen.
Fury last December pulled out of his celebrity bout with the American social media sensation after suffering a broken rib in training.
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The 2019 Love Island star is still in the running to fight Paul but is joined by UFC legend Anderson Silva, 47, and boxing icon Tyson, 55.
Their score is still there to be settled but Fury, 22, could be overlooked for a more lucrative and high-profile name.
Paul, 25, told SunSport: "There's definitely a chance, he's on the list.
"But there's some bigger names we're talking to at the moment, right now. One of them is Anderson Silva, one of them is Mike Tyson.
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"We want to see how Anderson performs and at the end of the day, I want to sell as many pay-per-views as possible.
"So, Tommy doesn't really bring anything to the table there. His dad's a better promoter than him, his brother's a better promoter than him.
"I'm kind of just giving him like all this attention, and money and payday when he would literally have to wait until he was 25-0 to get a similar payday to what I would give him."
Silva was released by the UFC in 2020 but has won two boxing matches since then.
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The first was against ex-world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, 36, and the other was a first-round KO over MMA veteran Tito Oritz, 46.
Silva returns on May 14 on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather's exhibition bout versus Don Moore, held on a Dubai HELIPAD.
Tyson, 55, made a shock boxing comeback in November 2020, drawing in an eight-round exhibition with Roy Jones Jr, 53.
The Reformed Baddest Man on The Planet has since talked down a second fight to avoid hangers-on looking to profit from him.
That was until while podcasting with Joe Rogan he called out 5-0 Paul, despite the 30-year age gap between them.
And the YouTuber-turned prizefighter admitted Tyson has since become frontrunner for his boxing return in August.
Paul, who is promoting the super-fight between Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor, said: "By far, it's legendary.
The guy is just still as explosive as ever, you obviously saw him go eight round with Roy Jones Jr, one of the greatest ever.
Jake Paul on Mike Tyson
"It sells the most amount of pay-per-views, gets me more excited than any of the other opponents to get into the gym and train.
"It's the hardest of all the opponents and to share the ring with a legend like that would be a dream come true."
Tyson was last year in talks for a trilogy bout against old rival Evander Holyfield.
But Holyfield, 59, would later be beaten around the ring in a farcical fight against ex-UFC champ Vitor Belfort, 45.
The sad showing left organisers facing scrutiny after one of boxing's best ever fighters was shamefully battered while offering little defence.
But Paul has no such fears for Iron Mike, who took Jones the distance and in the eyes of many bettered the US ring great.
He said on Tyson: "Have you seen him?
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"The guy is just still as explosive as ever, you obviously saw him go eight round with Roy Jones Jr, one of the greatest ever.
"So there's an age difference but he still looks strong, fast and very capable and can obviously still take a punch."
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