Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson may be a scripted charade - but the indisputable intrigue can't be denied

In the early hours of Sunday, August 27, 2017, Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor sat in a Las Vegas arena that had long since emptied itself of gullible punters.

But for those of us still there, the duo had the unmistakable air of a partnership that had just pulled off a £200million heist. And that is because they had. More, probably.

The record books will tell you they boxed each other for ten rounds, your own eyes told you McGregor’s punches carried all the force of a balloon on a stick while Mayweather could have dusted away the nuisance of the Irishman’s attention at whatever point he wished. The referee dutifully interrupted the charade in the 10th and, a few hours later, McGregor and Mayweather faced the media, fresh and unscathed and ready to hit the town and then count the pay-per-view millions.

It had been billed as the Money Fight … one half of the title was appropriate.

I remember thinking at the time that if you were daft enough to pay good money, thinking the Money Fight was going to be a proper fight, then more fool you.

But millions did. And millions will do the same when Jake Paul and Mike Tyson climb into the ring on July 20 of this year.

The protagonists are not of the same ilk – a YouTuber versus a 58-year-old boxing great as opposed to a bona fide mixed martial arts champion versus a 40-year-old fighting-fit boxing great.

But the potential for a scripted charade is the same – which is probably why Paul is, according to bookmakers who will attract millions of dollars worth of bets, the slight favourite.

Mike Tyson and Jake Paul face off

He might be at a 30-year age disadvantage but if Tyson retains a sliver of his menace, then Paul will be dispatched pretty damn quickly. And that is because no fighter in the past half a century had had the menace of Iron Mike.

Normally, this is the type of event boxing purists would rail against. And I’m normally with them.

But as long as no-one bills it as some sort of meaningful boxing match, then there is – no matter how much we try to deny it – an indisputable intrigue to the event.

Having seen those viral videos of Tyson pounding the pads, those of us who have witnessed his prime violence up close cannot, whether we like it or not, help but wonder if that savagery is still there.

If it is, then you would fear for Jake Paul. He is not daft, he must know that.

Which makes you wonder if there will be a script this occasion at the home of the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas, is compelled to follow.

But I guess we won’t know until Iron Mike emerges from his corner … and that is why the gullible millions will shell out and tune in.