Troy Deeney believes the big gloves Mike Tyson and Jake Paul will wear on fight night are there to protect the YouTuber.

Paul and Tyson square off on July 20 in a professional bout at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

2

Tyson will officially end his pro retirement this summerCredit: @MostVpromotions – x
The heavyweight showdown is being sanctioned under the auspices of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations (TDLR) although the rule set differs from a traditional professional boxing bout.

Paul and Tyson will compete over eight, two-minute rounds, rather than three minutes and will duke it out in 14oz mitts instead of the 10z ones pro boxers usually wear.

Earlier this month, Roy Jones Jr told talkSPORT that he thinks the decision to fight in larger gloves was made in order to help Paul withstand Tyson’s legendary punching power.

Deeney concurred that point when he joined Alan Brazil on talkSPORT Breakfast on Wednesday morning.

“We had a show a couple of weeks back with Roy Jones Jr and I asked the question ‘Come on, it’s a bit dodgy this, the big gloves, 14oz gloves,'” said the Watford icon.

“And his exact quote was ‘They are not there to protect Mike’ so he knows if he lands one on Jake Paul he is going to hurt him.

“I feel this is a little bit WWE, a little bit, ‘let’s get through this’. Mike might hit him a little bit but Jake will get through the whole fight.

“Both of them will make a few quid, Jake gets an extra one on his record and then he’s got to look to try and get somewhere else…

Deeney thinks the 14ozz gloves are there to protect PaulCredit: talkSPORT
“I think the problem is we’re all sitting here saying we know what that fight is. We know that it is more entertainment than a serious boxing match.

“Look at Fury-Usyk coming up for example, but I think the worry we all have is we don’t want to have that conversation after if something was to go wrong. And we go ‘told you so, why didn’t you listen?'”

Brazil then asked Deeney what would happen if Tyson knocked out Paul.

Boxing promoter Frank Warren condemns Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson as an officially sanctioned professional fight and labels it as ‘ridiculous’
To which, Deeney replied: “I think that’s why the 14oz gloves are there. When you are watching the videos you can see that he still has the capabilities to tuck you in.”

Regardless of whether Tyson boxes in 10oz or 14oz gloves, the fact remains that he will be 58-years old come fight night.

Unlike Paul, he isn’t an active professional boxer and only last year he was seen walking with the aid of a walking stick.

The last time Tyson competed in a professional boxing bout was back in June 2005 when he retired on his stool at the end of the sixth round against Kevin McBride, who never amounted to anything of note in the paid ranks.