Jake Paul’s former coach has threatened to knock out the YouTuber-turned-Boxer if he defeats Mike Tyson in Texas. Shannon Briggs worked with Paul and his brother Logan during their early exhibition fights but has pledged his allegiance to Iron Mike.
The 54-year-old is a former WBO and lineal heavyweight champion. However, he has not stepped foot in a ring since defeating Emilio Zarate in 2016.
Briggs insists he is not retired and has accused opponents of shirking him out of fear. He wants to fight in March and says he could knock out Paul if the internet sensation defeats Tyson.
“I’m not retired, it’s just that nobody wants to fight me. I’m just inactive because they are scared. They’re scared of me,” Briggs told talkSPORT.
“I’m looking to fight in March, and if Jake beats Mike Tyson then I’m going to avenge Mike and knock Jake out cold.
“That’s what I want to do if he wins… I’m telling you first if Mike loses then I’ve got to do this for the neighbourhood. You see the hat? Brownsville Boxing Academy. I can’t let Mike go out like that.”
Paul will fight Tyson at Texas’ 90,000-capacity AT&T Stadium on Saturday morning. Fears have been raised over the 31-year age gap between the duo, with Paul in his athletic prime and Tyson aged 58.
However, even Paul’s girlfriend has expressed concerns over her boyfriend fighting the former undisputed world heavyweight champion. Jutta Leerdam, a successful Dutch speed skater, declared “he’s just scary” when discussing Tyson on Paul’s podcast earlier this year.
“He’s the competitor that is the most scary to me,” she said.
“He’s just scary, he’s super strong and I’ve seen videos of him. Of course, he’s a little bit older now. But if you’ve ever been able to do that, your body remembers it. He has that power forever.”
Paul has previously claimed he stands to earn around £31m ($40m) from the fight. He added in an interview with SPORTbible: “There are definitely certain guaranteed figures and other certain built-in bonuses and stuff on top of sales – key performance indicators that trigger certain things.
“This is definitely my biggest payday, of all the fights for sure. It is definitely a healthy payday.”
Around 500 million people are expected to tune into the bout, which would remarkably make it one of the most-watched sporting events in history.
