'I watched Mike Tyson train... here's why Jake Paul should knock him out'

Mike Tyson still hits hard, that much is clear to see. But come Friday night, that won't be enough to beat Jake Paul.

Tyson will attempt to roll back the years to his prime when he takes on YouTuber Paul in front of up to 80,000 fans at the AT&T Stadium here in Dallas. He will walk to the ring for the first time since his exhibition bout with Roy Jones Jr four years ago - and almost 20 years since he last fought in the professional ranks.

On that night, he cut a sad and lonely figure as he quit on his stool after just five rounds against Kevin McBride. Few expected to see him back in the ring, never mind against a self-proclaimed disruptor who only fought 'professionally' four years ago when he stopped fellow influencer AnEsonGib in Miami.

Given the 31-year age gap between the two rivals, Paul will rightly start as the favourite on Friday night. But the sands of opinion have shifted in recent days as a generation who were born too late to watch Tyson fight in even his latter years are taken in by carefully edited footage.

Be that the short clips on Tyson's social media pages or the brief footage on Netflix's three-part documentary building up to the first bell, fans are being taken in by the former undisputed world champion's apparent renaissance. But watching him in the ring on Tuesday night during his open workout should have led to very different conclusions.

Yes, Tyson can still bang, especially when faced with a stationary target. But if Paul has any sense, he will use every bit of his spritely youth and be nimble and elusive - and that is where Tyson will struggle. At a glance, he might have appeared to have trainer Rafael Cordeiro pinned against the ropes as he worked out in front of a few hundred fans.

But those choreographed and rehearsed moves offer little if any insight into how the eight rounds will play out in just over 48 hours' time. Paul won't - or at least he shouldn't - stand in one place and allow Tyson to let off the same three-punch combination over and over again. He may also not 'run', as Tyson has eluded to - he doesn't have to. Merely by being a slippery customer, he can make Tyson miss - and that could be a sorry sight.

Nobody wants him to be lurching and staggering around the ring, trying to hit an opponent who is no longer where Tyson thinks he is. Because if his power is the last thing to, Tyson's timing will have been among the first. And if he is grasping at thin air, he will tire, despite the unusual two-minute duration of the rounds.

That should leave Paul with the opportunity to finish the fight - if he is willing to deal with the inevitable fall-out and criticism. For Tyson, this time it really will be the end.