Rosie Perez has been a lifelong boxing fan. However she kept her love for the sport a secret because so many people find it “too barbaric.” But a few years ago, she began tweeting commentary while watching fights.
Fast forward to today. Nicknamed “The First Lady of Boxing,” Perez is one of the official commentators of the Mike Tyson and Jake Paul match taking place Friday night in Dallas and airing live on Netflix. “It’s gonna be and interesting matchup,” Perez told me Thursday.
“Jake Paul is in his late 20s, and Mike Tyson is 58. Three decades. It’s crazy.
” Like many, Perez wasn’t thrilled when Paul began his career. “Everyone hated on him when he first got into boxing, including myself,” she said. “But it was less about hate, it was more about concern.
This is a real sport. You don’t play boxing. People can get hurt.
People have lost their lives in the ring, so that’s why I was against him. But he just kept going. He kept going and going.
” Perez isn’t making any predictions on who will win because she believes each has an equal shot. “Mike looking the way he looks now it’s, everyone’s saying it’s a 50/50, chance,” she says. “Where before they were like, ‘Jake Paul has this in the bag because he’s younger and he does have knockout power.
’ He’s knocked out about five of his opponents — but they all weren’t Mike Tyson.” This following Q&A has been edited for length and clarity. How worried are you about Mike or Jake.