More than a year ago, at age 58, Mike Tyson stepped in to face an opponent 30 years his junior. The age gap is slightly narrower this time around than it was when he fought Jake Paul. Though it remains to be confirmed, Tyson, who celebrates his 60th birthday this June, will mark his return with an exhibition bout against Floyd Mayweather.

The news has drawn both awe and concern, and some continue to question the direction of the sport itself. During an interview with Ariel Helwani, while talking about the Jake Paul fight, Mike Tyson addressed what he sees as a lingering problem in modern boxing: the best avoid the best, fight infrequently, and prefer to protect their records instead of taking risks.

“Listen, this is what fighters should be thinking right now about me,” Tyson told Helwani. “How could this guy be 60 years old and break all the records? They should be. They should be disappointed with themselves. How could this old cat come in here and break all the records?

“They fight once or twice a year, these guys. No one knows who they are; they need to have a story behind them. They have clientele who watch them, and people look up to them and follow them.”

The response led Helwani to ask whether big paychecks have worsened the issue. Multi-million-dollar purses allow fighters to compete less frequently. Mike Tyson, however, disagreed. He believes it comes down more to desire than money.

“(It’s) not that they’re getting paid too much. It’s just that they don’t want to do it,” he replied. “Why would you? Listen, if you like getting paid, you’ve got a lot of money. Why don’t you do that three times a year instead of once? We’re going to get more money, anyway.

“It’s just—it’s a no-lose situation; it’s all up. It’s all a win. Everything’s a win. You’re fighting, you’re getting in shape, and you’re getting paid more money than you ever did before.”

Although the Jake Paul fight’s viewership numbers surprised him, Tyson emphasized that he has always been competitive and eager to face marquee opponents.

The boxing problem Mike Tyson exposed

Tyson’s broader argument about activity and risk brings to mind the schedules followed by Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez. This past September, Crawford made history by becoming the first three-division undisputed champion among men. Yet in the lead-up to the fight at Allegiant Stadium, his previous bout had been more than a year earlier against Israil Madrimov.

By comparison, Canelo has stuck to a two-fight schedule in recent years – one around the Cinco de Mayo weekend and another during the Mexican Independence Day weekend.

That is the schedule followed by two of the sport’s biggest names, raising the question of how often champions and contenders across other divisions are competing. Not all the responsibility falls on the fighters, though. Broadcast complications and the expansion of the pay-per-view model have contributed to longer promotional buildups.

Fighters appear willing to wait for the right opportunity, especially when the matchup is lucrative and relatively safe.

The arrival of Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season has shifted some of that momentum. Fans were finally able to see the undisputed fights between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury before Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol faced off. Crawford vs. Canelo was also presented as a Ring event.

As Tyson pointed out, boxing has historically demanded that champions take risks despite the possibility of defeat. In the 1990s, had Tyson hesitated, fans would have missed the shocking upset to “Buster” Douglas, the defeats to Holyfield, or the loss to Lennox Lewis that effectively ended his career.