Don King on Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul: ‘Tyson’s playing the game’

Hall of Fame promoter Don King and Mike Tyson were once a dynamic duo who dominated boxing as “Iron” Mike became the youngest heavyweight champion of the world in 1986, then reigned supreme until a shocking night in Tokyo when Buster Douglas knocked him out in 1990.

Tyson and King’s relationship soured shortly after, however, while Tyson was in prison for a rape conviction. In 1992, with Tyson still in jail, an affidavit indicated that King allegedly siphoned millions of dollars from Tyson’s purses.

But when Tyson got out of prison in 1995, he reunited with King and they staged several more lucrative fights together. By 1998, Tyson filed a $100 million lawsuit alleging that the promoter cheated him out of millions. It was eventually settled in 2004 in exchange for a $14 million payment. 

Tyson and King have since gone their separate ways. 

King, 93, still occasionally promotes fights. 

Tyson, 58, is coming out of retirement on Friday to fight Jake Paul.  

In an interview with BoxingScene, King discussed Tyson’s emergence from a nearly two-decade-long hiatus to face the YouTuber-turned-knockout artist. 

“They call him Iron Mike because he comes to win,” King told BoxingScene. “He has the attitude that Donald Trump and myself have – to never surrender, to never give in, and to never quit. I love the man. I have no problems with him and the nonsense that they perpetuate. 

“Tyson was what we called SKD – something kinda different – all the way down the line. He’s acting normally 1731647689. 

“Tyson’s fights were historic episodes. That’s why they have the 58-year-old fighting against an entertainer. He’s a great fighter. I can never say anything negative about Mike Tyson. I love Mike Tyson because any time a man makes as much money as I did with Mike Tyson, and does the things that we did together to help the people, there’s no way I can come down and play the games that he plays, like he’s angry with me; this and that and the other, and I took his money. He made more money with me than he made with anybody. He revolutionized the pay scale. 

“Jake Paul is not a boxer. He’s an entertaining fighter who has a tremendous following. They are in two different categories – oranges and apples. They don’t mix. You know what I mean? We’ll see what could be and would be … I don’t have an opinion [on how the fight will unfold]. As a fight, there is no better fighter on the planet to face than Mike Tyson. They are playing the game. Good luck to them in whatever they do. If the people are happy, I’m happy.”

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter whose work has appeared on ESPN, Fox Sports, USA Today, The Guardian, Newsweek, Men’s Health, NFL.com, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Ring Magazine and more. He has been writing for BoxingScene since 2018. Manouk is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.