Mike Tyson 'declining' to speak as Jake Paul left in the dark ahead of November 15 fight date
GETTY
Jake Paul has stepped up his training in order to best prepare for his blockbuster fight with Mike Tyson.
Jake Paul has revealed that Mike Tyson is 'declining' to speak to anybody with the boxing icon yet to respond to the $5million bet.
The controversial fight between Paul and Tyson is just weeks away with millions expected to tune in.
Paul recently upped the ante for his 58-year-old opponent and challenged him to accept a bet for their November 15 fight.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer has offered Tyson $5m if the former undisputed heavyweight world champion makes it to the fifth round.
But if Tyson accepts the challenge and fails to get past the fourth round then he'll have to get a 'I love Jake Paul' tattoo.
Tyron Woodley accepted the bet for his fight with Paul three years ago and ended up getting the tattoo on his finger.
Paul is still confident of being able to stop Tyson in the fight, but he's had zero response from the boxing legend regarding the bet or anything else.
"I think I TKO or KO him in round four or five," Paul told Sports Illustrated.
"He hasn't responded to the bet and I don't think he probably will.
"I think he's locked in in war mode. He's declining to do interviews. He just wants to train and be a savage."
Paul has traditionally fought at cruiserweight in his short boxing career, but will make the step up to heavyweight on November 15.
And the 27-year-old has claimed he's been sparring with some giants in the ring to get prepared to fight Tyson.
"I had to gain weight to be in the heavyweight division so that Mike Tyson didn't have as much as an advantage," he added.
"It's been going amazing. Intense camp. I'm sparring 300lb guys back-to-back so my body's aching, my bones are sore, they punch a lot harder and just wrestling with them in the ring is very difficult but on November 15 I'm going to be prepared.
"You train hard to make the fight easy."
Paul has faced criticism for taking on the fight with Tyson with some suggesting it's a lose-lose situation for the young American.
However, Paul feels the fight is his way of showing his respect to the sport of boxing.
"I would say, first and foremost you fight Mike Tyson, most of them won't get in the ring," he said.
"And secondly, if you love the sport of boxing and you did have the opportunity to fight a legend, it is an honour to step into there with one of the three biggest legends in the history sport.
LATEST SPORT NEWS:
"Muhammad Ali, Floyd [Mayweather], Mike Tyson. To me it's an honour, it's a win-win. I can't believe it. My dad's favourite fighter growing up is Mike Tyson.
"My dad cried when I told him about this opportunity.
"The co-main event is Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano. We're putting women's boxing in the most-viewed event ever.
"All around, it's a win. But obviously when you're climbing to the top of the ladder, the windier it gets so there's going to be more critics and that's the nature of humans and it is what it is."