Jake Paul has assured his “nervous” mother of a triumphant outcome, vowing to knock out boxing legend Mike Tyson on Friday night.
Pam Stepnick, Jake’s mother, was present at the ringside with his dad, Greg Paul, as they observed their son participate in open workouts that marked the beginning of fight week in Dallas, Texas, on Tuesday evening.
Just before Jake entered the ring, his parents had witnessed Tyson demonstrating his formidable punching power in the same arena. Wrapping up his interview in the ring, Jake Paul addressed the camera with a simple “Hi Mom”, pointing towards his mother in the audience.
She responded with enthusiasm, exclaiming: “I’m very excited”, to which Jake added: “And nervous. She doesn’t’ like watching Mike Tyson throw punches because she’s a little bit scared.”
He then confidently promised his mother: “But Mom, I promise you, I was built for this, destined for this. The gods got me, the universe has got me, and I, Jake Joseph Paul, will knock out Mike Tyson, Friday November 15. It is written in the history books.”
In a conversation with Bloody Elbow, Paul’s mum expressed the “terrifying” nature of seeing Tyson in person, recalling him as the “baddest man on the planet” from her younger days. “Always seeing Mike Tyson in person is terrifying,” she admitted.
“I watched him growing up, baddest man on the planet. 100 per cent, just watching him was scary.”
She also confessed that this upcoming bout is the most nerve-wracking yet, but she remains supportive: “Hands down this is the most frightened I’ve been going into one of Jake’s fights, but I’m not going to stop him! I never tell Jake or [his brother] Logan they ‘can’t’ do something.”
The individual expressed a mixture of faith and realistic expectation, stating, “I always tell them to do what’s in their heart, manifest, and that I believe in them. But you don’t want to know what I was thinking! What I’m thinking is hopefully Mike made that look better than it really was.”
They added with cautious optimism about the outcome: “He’s a professional, he gets his guy up on the ropes, makes it look like he’s really hitting him, okay. I don’t do predictions, I just hope that Jake wins! “
Paul himself is riding high on anticipation for the bout, confidently declaring: “I’m just blessed to be here. So grateful for all the fans that show up, and Dallas is going to be an amazing night on Friday. I’m just having fun, doing my thing. I feel really good. Sharp, powerful, explosive. It’s going to be a short night for Mike.”
“It’s not about how long you’ve been doing something, it’s about how good you do it. On Friday night, people are going to see me outbox the person that’s been doing it their whole life.
Friday my dream comes true and my career starts. This is the beginning of an amazing journey. What I’ve done so far doesn’t matter – Friday night my career starts.”