Rosie Perez has been a lifelong boxing fan. But she kept her love of the sport a secret because so many people think it’s “too barbaric”. But a few years ago, she started tweeting comments while watching fights.

Fast forward to today. Nicknamed “The First Lady of Boxing,” Perez is one of the official commentators for the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight, which takes place Friday night in Dallas and will be broadcast live on Netflix.

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“It’s going to be an 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 was not thrilled when Paul began his career. “Everybody hated him when he first started boxing, myself included,” 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 continued just. He went on and on.”

Perez doesn’t make any predictions about who will win because she believes everyone has an equal chance. “Mike looking the way he looks now, everyone says it’s a 50/50 chance,” she says. “Where before they were like, ‘Jake Paul’s got this in the bag because he’s younger and he’s got knockout power.’ He’s knocked out about five of his opponents — but not all of them were Mike Tyson.”

The following questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.

How worried are you about Mike or Jake getting seriously hurt?

I’m always worried at every boxing match, because one punch can change a fight. Yes, you can knock someone out unexpectedly. So I’m worried. I’m not only worried about Tyson, I’m also worried about Jake Paul, but I’m more worried about Tyson because of his age.

What are some of your favorite boxing movies?

“The Harder They Fall” with Humphrey Bogart because it was the first boxing movie I saw that was about the boxing business, and it broke my heart because I didn’t know how dirty it was and how the mob just took advantage of people. Then there is the first “Rocky” and the top of the line is “Raging Bull.” What De Niro did with that character, how he understood the fighting game, it was crazy. The cinematography and direction by Martin Scorsese was insane. I saw the movie for the first time and I knew the outcome because I know the fight, but I was still on the edge of my seat.

Jake Paul is a big supporter of Donald Trump. I wanted to get your reaction to that — or do you think sports and politics shouldn’t mix?

When I’m at a boxing match, I never talk politics. Donald Trump shows up at UFC fights, and he showed up at the boxing matches, and he was in the boxing business before he destroyed Atlantic City. But what I’ve learned over the years because I’m very, very outspoken is when I’m at a boxing match, I don’t talk about it. That said, I hate to give (Trump) credit. It’s a stroke of genius for Trump to insert himself into the world of sports because it’s a staple, right? If you think about it, we have all these different nationalities. When you’re at a sports game, everyone’s on the same team. Even if you want the opposite team, you’re all there for the same reason. And that’s huge access to the American population. As for Jake Paul, my view of him as a businessman changed because he supported women’s boxing. Women’s boxing has been ignored for so long. They were never paid the same as men. They still get punched in the face just like men. They still get kicked out just like men, but they won’t get the same money. If you’re going to punch me in the face, you better pay me the same amount you’re paying this guy over here. They kept saying, “Nobody wants to see women’s boxing. Nobody’s interested in women fighting. The first one to prove it wrong was Dana White and the second one to prove it wrong was Jake Paul. He had a match with Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor. He said, ‘I’m going to sell out Madison Square Garden, and I’m going to get paid.'” After the fight, Amanda said she could finally afford a house.

I know you don’t like to mix sports and politics, but I have to ask you how you feel after the election?

There were so many Democrats who were devastated, and they kept asking me, “Why aren’t you devastated? I said, “I’m not devastated. I’m just worried. I am worried about the country.” I said, “I told you from day one, even though I was campaigning for her — because I thought we had to do everything, all hands on deck to make sure she wins more so he doesn’t come back office — but from day one I kept telling the campaign, “It’s the economy, stupid? It’s just a hard pill to swallow. But we have to get off the fucking canvas and.” start training again and continue the fight. It’s like this pity party that they all had. I’m like, “What the hell is wrong with you? We’ve been here before. We’ve lost before.” You cry one night and then get over it. You’re the first person I’ve said this to because nobody wanted me to get that message out. I kept telling everybody, “I’m living in real world.” I know the far right accuses me of being elitist because I’m in the entertainment business, and I clap back at them. I said, “Listen, motherfuckers, I come from abject poverty. I am the American Dream. I’m kicking my ass. I get turned down all the time because of my color and my nationality and my ethnicity. I fight every day for my career, so fuck you.” And believe it or not, I’m more moderate than you think I am because I live in the real world. But there are so many Republicans out there who are not Trumpers, and we need to stop hating them. We need to start listening to them. We need to start listening to what they are trying to tell us what they want from a government.

Like you said, Trump goes to fights. If he showed up at the Tyson-Paul match, would you shake his hand?

No, but I wouldn’t be rude to him because he will be our next president. I wouldn’t want to offer him any kind of disrespect, but I don’t know if I could shake that man’s hand in good faith. But as I said, boxing and politics should not mix. I think he will probably show up because, not because, it will be a really smart move if he does.

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