Nearly 40 years after his professional debut and 19 years after his retirement, 58-year-old boxing legend Mike Tyson will step into the ring today to face YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in a Netflix-backed event.
The fight, taking place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, marks Tyson’s return to the sport he once dominated in the late 1980s.
The officially sanctioned bout is set for eight two-minute rounds and has drawn significant attention, with a crowd of about 70,000 expected at the Dallas Cowboys’ home stadium. Initially scheduled for July, the fight was postponed after Tyson suffered a bleeding ulcer in May, leading to criticism of the event as a risky endeavor for the aging fighter. Tyson last fought professionally in 2005, ending in a technical knockout loss to Kevin McBride after quitting on his stool.
The weigh-in on the eve of the fight saw tensions boil over when Tyson slapped Paul during their face-off. Paul had theatrically crawled across the floor before rising to Tyson’s eyeline. Tyson, who had largely ignored Paul’s taunts throughout the week, struck his younger opponent, causing a brief scuffle between security teams.
“Talking’s over,” Tyson said as he walked off stage.
Paul, unfazed, smiled and appeared to meditate after the incident. “I didn’t even feel it. He’s angry. He’s an angry little elf,” Paul quipped. “Mike Tyson, I thought that was a cute slap, buddy, but tomorrow you’re getting knocked out.”
https://twitter.com/HappyPunch/status/1857229472187011459
While Paul is reportedly set to earn £31 million and Tyson’s purse is half that, questions linger about the motivations behind the match-up. Critics have highlighted Paul’s history of facing carefully selected opponents and unsubstantiated allegations of predetermined outcomes in his fights. Tyson, meanwhile, had declared in 2005 that he no longer had the “heart and stomach” for the sport and was fighting only to pay bills.
“I am not going to disrespect the sport any more by losing to this calibre of fighter,” Tyson said after his last fight.
Paul, who suffered a loss to Briton Tommy Fury in 2020, faces his oldest opponent yet, with many viewing the fight as a strategic contest for Paul and a nostalgic return for Tyson. Fans are left wondering if Tyson will stick to his recent advice: “Don’t follow the script, Mike.”