Most fans of the great boxer Mike Tyson no longer dared to think that their favorite would ever enter the ring again. But for the sake of financial well-being, the boxing legend decided to resume his career, however, nothing good came of it.

“I was in a lot of pain”

At the end of 2023, an extraordinary plan matured in the head of the famous boxer and blogger Jake Paul. He wanted to add a victory over another famous person to his record. It was hard to come up with a louder candidate than Mike Tyson.

But the ex-champion was already 57 years old at that time. He hasn’t fought professionally in almost two decades. At the same time, Iron Mike was not all right with his health. The boxer either appeared in public in a wheelchair or walked with a cane. It’s no wonder that the fight planned for June 20 was postponed due to Tyson’s injury.

But Mike couldn’t refuse such an offer. Although he earned hundreds of millions of dollars during his career, he always managed his money poorly. He even had to declare bankruptcy in the mid-2000s. The prospect of earning an easy $20 million (1.997 billion rubles) immediately appeared.

We must give Tyson his due; he prepared for the fight professionally. Iron Mike sometimes did not have such a desire to train even during his career. They stirred up the public’s interest with the “paws” that were torn during training, hinting that the older athlete’s punching power had not disappeared anywhere.

The clash in the battle of views increased the intensity. Paul either accidentally or deliberately stepped on his opponent’s foot. Discouraged, Mike could not find anything better than to slap the blogger in the face.

“I was wearing socks, and he was wearing sneakers.” He stepped on my toe because he’s a stupid asshole. I was in a lot of pain and had to respond,” Tyson said.

Mike Tyson and Jake Paul / Photo: © Stephen McCarthy / Contributor / Sportsfile / Gettyimages.ru

Crushing defeat

The organizers did not torture Tyson with a grueling fight. The fight format included eight rounds of two minutes each, instead of the usual three. In the first two minutes, Mike even performed well, convincing two judges to give him this segment.

But the longer the fight went on, the less active the ex-champion became. At the same time, Paul didn’t really force things. He often simply ran around Tyson, perhaps afraid of being hit by Lucky Punch or simply playing with the legend for the amusement of the public.

Many expected a knockout from this fight. First of all, they expected to see Mike on the floor, but for a 58-year-old man, he was doing a good job of dodging Jake’s few attacks. True, he still received considerable damage, and practically did not strike. In two of the eight three-minute matches, statisticians from Compubox did not count a single accurate power blow performed by Tyson. Mike landed only 18 accurate shots compared to Paul’s 78.

Mike Tyson and Jake Paul / Photo: © Stephen McCarthy / Contributor / Sportsfile / Gettyimages.ru

It is not surprising that all the referees awarded the victory to the daring blogger. Two bet on the cards 79-73, another gave all rounds to Paul 80-72. But the result of this fight was clearly not in the first place for Tyson. He will receive his 20 million and will be able to calmly enjoy a comfortable old age. At the same time, one should not rule out the reappearance of Iron Mike in the ring, because there will probably still be people who want to beat up the old man for a substantial sum.