Boxing
'Brought a lot of new fans!' - Jake Paul no problem for Dillian Whyte after Mike Tyson fight
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Jake Paul has "brought a lot of new fans" to boxing, believes Dillian Whyte, who has no issue with the bout between the YouTuber-turned-fighter and Mike Tyson.
The Problem Child defeated The Baddest Man on the Planet by unanimous decision when they met last Friday night at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas in a controversial bout.
Aft 58, questions had been raised over Tyson's fitness, especially after he was forced to delay the original date due an ulcer flare-up, and the fight proved to be underwhelming.
But despite that, former WBC interim champion Whyte still believes bouts featuring Paul, who made his name as a social media star, have plenty of positives the sport can take.
"I don't think it's bad for boxing at all because Jake brought a lot of new fans to the game," he told Sky Sports News. "Obviously, we know it's a YouTuber versus an old legend in Mike Tyson.
"But I think it's good for boxing because if we can keep at least five million of the fans, then that's five more million new fans for hardcore boxing which is great.
"Personally, I think it's a massive achievement for Mike. The fight motivated him to get into great shape and get healthy which I think added 10 years to his life, that's a positive.
"A lot of these guys retire and they stop training, they get a lot of illnesses but obviously the fight motivated Mike to get his life back and get healthy.
"So for me, I'm not against it. If someone does something positive and doesn't hurt anyone in the process of it and makes money doing it, I'm not against that at all."
Whyte has fought just once in the last two years himself, scoring a third-round victory over Christian Hammer in a clash in March, taking his record to 30-3.
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