a little slap for Jake, a big slap for boxing

Who is fooled? This Friday (Saturday from 1 a.m.), Mike Tyson, one of the greatest heavyweights in boxing history, will face YouTuber Jake Paul in a semi-professional fight fought over 8 rounds of 2 minutes, instead of 12 rounds of 3 minutes, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The meeting will be broadcast live by the streaming giant Netflix and generates strong, slightly morbid curiosity.

And for good reason. If Jake Paul only has victories in the ring against second-rate boxers or fighters from other sports (sic) such as Mixed Martial Art, Mike Tyson is now 58 years old.

The rest after this ad

When we met him in 2013, he was lucid about his future between the ropes: during my fight against Lennox Lewis, in 2002, I realized that my rage to win had disappeared. Three years later, leaving the ring in a loss to Kevin McBride, I knew it was over for me forever. No regrets. » Eleven years later, he is back, for obviously financial reasons – the sum of 40 million dollars is mentioned.

The rest after this ad

Even if he has kept his healthy weight around 103 kilos, “Iron Mike” no longer has the speed and cardio of his younger years and many fear that the match will resemble a boxing parody, like a wrestling show. arranged to the glory of Jake Paul.

Jake Paul

On Thursday, the farce turned into pathos. During the official weigh-in, Mike Tyson slapped Jake Paul who stepped on his foot. Security members separated the two men before expelling the 50-year-old. “I didn’t even feel it, he’s angry.” He's an angry little leprechaun…lovely slap in the face mate,” said Paul, weighing in at 103kg at the age of 27.

The rest after this ad

The rest after this ad

The man with 20 million subscribers on You Tube then promised to knock Tyson out, before screaming, proud of himself, “He must die!” The era has the Mohammed Ali it deserves…