At 58 years old, Mike Tyson did not last the distance against YouTuber turned boxer, Jake Paul. The heavyweight legend lost on the night of Friday November 16 to Saturday November 17, in Arlington (Texas, United States), in a professional exhibition-style fight.
Tyson slows down
Jake Paul was unanimously declared the winner by the judges, after a baroque fight that he organized with his promotion company. She will have offered this show specialist an advertisement worthy of the legend of “Iron Mike” Tyson, live on the Netflix streaming platform.
“It’s such an honor, Mike Tyson is a legend, the greatest in history, he inspired me. It was very hard, as expected”greeted Jake Paul.
“I am happy, I have nothing to prove to anyone but myself, I was happy with what I was able to do”commented Tyson for his part, who gave the change. He dominated the first two rounds before declining significantly physically from the third round, where he suffered a good sequence from his opponent.
Tyson has remained evasive about his future. The former champion did not specify whether this fight, his first among professionals since 2005, was indeed the last of a very long career: “I don’t know, it depends”he declared.
The legend against the “dirty kid”
Jake Paul, a 27-year-old American “dirty kid” who made his fortune thanks to his videos on social networks, was not yet born at the time of the splendor of “Iron Mike”. When the latter became world heavyweight champion for the first time in 1986, the internet did not yet exist.
During his tumultuous career that began in 1985, Tyson won 50 victories, including 44 by knockout. She also now has seven defeats, including two famous defeats against Evander Holyfield in 1996 and 1997.
Opposite him, Jake Paul, a controversial influencer with 20.8 million subscribers on YouTube, is a boxer, but above all a businessman, at the head of a promotion company and a venture capital fund. , a sports betting site or even a brand of body care products.
The age imbalance
Many observers, notably former American boxing world champion Deontay Wilder, had expressed their concern at seeing a nearly sixty-year-old lined up in a professional fight, saying they feared a serious injury. The fight was slightly adapted for this purpose, with eight rounds of two minutes (instead of 12 rounds of 3 minutes) and slightly thicker gloves.
Tyson had to postpone the fight, initially scheduled for July 20, after receiving medical treatment on May 26 due to an ulcer.
Friday in Arlington, more than 72,000 spectators were white-hot by a furious opening fight which saw the Irish Katie Taylor retain her unified super-lightweight title against the Puerto Rican Amanda Serrano, by unanimous decision of the judges.
Jake Paul then made a sensational entrance to the whistles of the public, seated in a customized green car, in the company of his brother and partner in escapades, Logan. The latter was beaten by another boxing legend, Floyd Mayweather Jr., during a poor exhibition in 2021.
Tyson made a sober entrance, dressed in black, his goatee whitened by the years and his gait slowed down. The public widely acclaimed the legend and were disappointed to see their hero beaten by a neoboxer.
With this success, Jake Paul now has 11 wins for one loss among professionals. His good performance on Friday could make him want to challenge younger boxers.
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