Frank Warren compares Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul to ‘watching a car crash’

Leading boxing promoter Frank Warren will be one of the many millions on Nov. 15 tuned in to Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul on Netflix, not knowing exactly what to expect — except for complete chaos.

“[Of] course I will [watch Tyson vs. Paul],” Warren told Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “It’s like watching a car crash; that’s what we do, people do.”

The “car crash” analogy of Queensberry Promotions founder Warren is perhaps the best way to describe the controversial bout. Even critics who know that what they’re watching maybe shouldn’t be happening, that there is a chance the 58-year-old Tyson is seriously hurt by the 27-year-old Paul, likely won’t be able to take their eyes off the spectacle once the first bell rings from Dallas’ AT&T Stadium.

“I really, really have the greatest respect for Jake and his team,” Warren said. “They’re really good people. I’ve worked with them, and they’ve been a joy to work with. A 58-year-old guy is fighting; I’m not a big fan of that. Of course I’m not a big fan of that, and guys at that age shouldn’t be fighting.

“But they have their own mind. The governing body — whoever it is, is in Texas — they’ve allowed it to happen. As long as it’s medically regulated, as long as everyone knows — and they certainly know — what the risks are going into it, that’s their choice. Me, it’s not something I particularly would endorse, but we’re in a democracy, and if people want to climb a mountain, if they want to dive to the deepest depths of the sea, they want to go up in a rocket into space, that’s their choice. Sometimes, people, they need protecting from themselves. We will see.”

There are several adaptations to Tyson vs. Paul to make it safer than a regular high-level professional boxing match. The rounds will last two minutes rather than the three-minute rounds normally used for men’s fights, and the boxing gloves will weigh 14 ounces instead of the 10-ounce gloves typically worn by boxers competing at more 147 pounds.

Fight fans fell in love with the power-punching Tyson of the 1980s, and Warren believes a similarly aggressive performance could be seen next Friday — for the first round or so. But the British promoter isn’t confident in what that former heavyweight champ will be able to showcase past the opening stanza.

“One thing about the fight, I think for probably a round you’re going to get a vintage Mike Tyson coming out and doing what he does,” Warren said. “After that, we’ll see where he goes. I remember making the fight years ago against him and Danny Williams [in 2004]. And I said to Danny Williams at the time, ‘Let me tell you, for two rounds you are going to think it’s World War 3. After that, we’ll see what happens, and you have the ability to beat him after that happens,’ and that’s what we did.”

“What is Mike going to do now? Who knows. But one thing’s for sure: It’s going to get record viewing because people will buy into it,” Warren added. “Rightly or wrongly, it’s like a car crash, as I said at the start of this. People slow down on the motorway to see what’s happening.”

Plans for 2025

Warren’s Queensberry Promotions on Sunday announced a landmark multi-year media rights deal with sports broadcaster DAZN. Starting April 1, 2025, Warren’s boxing events will broadcast exclusively on DAZN throughout the world.

This came as a bit of a surprise for some within the boxing world, as Warren was very critical of DAZN when rival Matchroom Boxing made the move to the streaming platform for its U.K. cards in 2021.

“For me, the big thing was the management they bought on board and what has been happening,” Warren said when asked why his opinion of DAZN has changed. “And I’m delighted, this is a big move forward. My son George, who’s the CEO of Queensberry, he was instrumental in pulling this all together. At the end of the day, as a team, him and the rest of the directors, it’s something that we feel is the right place for Queensberry to be now. There’ll be some additional dates for us, and it’s going to be something special.

“And the fact that there’s other promoters there, as you mentioned earlier with Eddie [Hearn], obviously with Oscar [De La Hoya], there’s some big fights to be made out there between all our various companies, and I feel it’s going to be great for boxing, and more importantly, great for the viewers and the fans.”

The Hall of Fame promoter confirmed the deal between Queensberry and DAZN is “multi-year” but declined to give the exact amount of years when asked. Warren also refused to reveal the number of contracted shows per year, but did say Queensberry will be doing more events than it is currently doing. Excluding Saudi Arabia’s “Riyadh Season” events, Queensberry will promote 14 U.K. shows on TNT Sports in 2024.

As for Queensberry’s early 2025 schedule, Warren also confirmed that top New Zealand heavyweight contender Joseph Parker is in the running to challenge for Daniel Dubois’ IBF championship on Feb. 22 after news broke that Anthony Joshua will likely not be rematching Dubois on that date.

“That is one of the fights we’re considering,” Warren said. “There’s a couple of options, and that’s a great fight, by the way, but there’s a lot of great fights there for Daniel. The heavyweight division at the moment is very, very sexy. There’s some great fights there to be made [for Dubois].

“A lot of them are very competitive against guys that are all winning fighters, they’re not losing fighters. So whatever we decide to do, I promise you it’s going to be a great fight. But we’re looking at a couple of fights there, and I’m not being evasive, but before we can announce it, as I said earlier, through the Riyadh Season, [Turki Alalshikh], we all have to be on the same page. Everybody’s got to agree the terms, and once we do that, we’re going to announce a fight I think that everybody is going to love.”