Former Quebec boxer Éric Martel-Bahoéli may have a tattoo of Mike Tyson on his back, but he is very “mixed” at the idea of seeing the man who inspired him to get into the ring face Jake Paul, Friday in Texas. Even though the former Canadian heavyweight champion does not plan to watch the fight.
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Firstly, because he goes to bed early, he says to Journal. And secondly, because he thinks this fight is “anything”. “Big marketing,” regrets Martel-Bahoéli.
“Mike Tyson was someone who commanded respect,” he explains, while mentioning being well aware of his setbacks outside the ring. “He said that by knocking out his opponents, no one was going to disrespect him. This is what challenged me when I was young, because I experienced racism in hockey.
Éric Martel-Bahoéli in action, in 2017.
Photo d’archives
Risks at 58
But at 58, the youth idol of “Baho” is obviously no longer what she was. Even at the end of his professional career, in 2005, “Iron Mike” (50-6, 44 KOs) was starting to have some success.
This is also what other speakers in the world of boxing argue, who question the relevance of this fight in the career of one of the most recognized boxers in history.
His former manager, Rory Holloway, told The Sun Thursday that if he could, he would have tried to dissuade Tyson from accepting this fight, “because of the risks”.
“Boxing is a countdown for the brain,” explains Quebec coach François Duguay. A boxer will suffer several concussions during his career. It’s not because you take several blows to the jaw that you’re going to be better than the day before.”
Mike Tyson.
Photo Getty Images / AFP
“Even at 90”
However, some believe that “the baddest man on Earth” can emerge victorious from this duel, even if he was born 31 years before Jake Paul (10-1, 7 KOs).
“If Mike Tyson hits someone, even when he’s 90, he’s going to knock them out,” boxer Tyson Fury recently said in a podcast.
Martel-Bahoéli, now a coach, is not necessarily of this opinion.
“At the end of his career, he was already a magané, he was getting knocker by ordinary guys, he raises. There is no magic formula to bring it back. At least not against a 27 year old guy. […] I think he’s finished: he’s had back problems, he smokes pot on the side…”
But that, he adds, “is if it’s a real fight” and not “almost like a wrestling show.”
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