In a move that has caused whiplash and consternation across the boxing world, Mike Tyson, the most fearsome heavyweight champion in history, is leaving his comfy podcast life behind to improbably lace up the gloves once more. His bizarre opponent? The flamboyant and polarizing YouTube star Jake Paul.
Despite being 57 years old and not having had a legitimate prizefight in nearly two decades, “Iron Mike” remains disdainfully cocky about taking on Paul, the 26-year-old with a middling 6-1 professional boxing record compiled against nondescript opponents.
“I have zero concerns about any damage to my legacy. I’m going to go in there and go for the knockout like I always have,” Tyson growled to reporters with his trademark snarl. “Age doesn’t win fights. I’m feeling powerful and Paul can’t match my experience level.”
The ludicrously hyped exhibition bout was officially announced last month, capping years of Paul tirelessly baiting Tyson and lobbing incendiary verbal grenades his way on social media. Somehow, this juvenile trolling campaign has now materialized into an actual sporting event anointing Paul as the latest in Tyson’s long lineage of tomato cans fed to the carnivorous Brooklyn native.
While Tyson did make a brief return in late 2020 for an eight-round exhibition against Roy Jones Jr. that ended in an unofficial draw, most pundits expected that to be his final fling with the sweet science. The boxing elder statesmen had seemed content to segue into the realms of marijuana entrepreneurship, acting, and hosting the wildly popular “Hotboxin'” podcast.
Then came the shocker that he was pivoting from that puff of peace to pursue one last violently lucrative payday against the wealthy upstart Paul, who has infuriated boxing purists by turning prizefighting into a circus sideshow.
“Mike’s job is to sell this fight hard, which is why you’re seeing all these boxing videos portraying him as this menacing, powerful force like the old days,” said a Vegas-based source close to the bizarre matchup. “Let’s be real – he’s doing this for the immense payday and global exposure it brings him and his business ventures.”
Indeed, while the dollar figures have been heavily disputed, most credible reports indicate the Tyson vs. Paul debacle will be streaming live on Netflix as a pay-per-view event after the fledgling streamer ponied up around $40 million for the rights. It’s a bizarre investment in a sideshow fisticuffs spectacle, but one that Netflix seemingly expects will draw huge curiosity viewership thanks to the blinding wattage of its dueling protagonists.
For Paul’s part, the contest represents the culmination of years of relentless self-promotion, beginning with his contentious foray into boxing by fighting a procession of smaller, overmatched opponents. While he did suffer a close decision loss to Tommy Fury earlier this year, putting Paul in the ring with Tyson transforms him from carnival barker to Ringmaster in the eyes of his legion of fans.
“This fight is going to be massive, like something you’ve never seen before,” Paul boasted. “I’m putting my unbeaten record up against one of the all-time greats, and I plan on shocking the world just like I always have.”
As for Tyson, he admits some befuddlement at this unexpected crossover event but says he’s treating it as seriously as any of his vintage World Heavyweight Championship clashes of the 1980s. The fighter who once chewed off a chunk of Evander Holyfield’s ear claims he’s solely focused on battering Paul into oblivion over their scheduled eight rounds in Dallas.
“I’m not coming back as a professional boxer looking to relive past glories,” Tyson clarified gruffly. “But this is still just another exhibition match for me to put on a show. And what people expect from a Mike Tyson show is me knocking someone’s damn head off with my ferocious power punches!”
Menacing rhetoric aside, can the nearly sexagenarian Tyson realistically hope to rekindle thatblinding ferocity of three decades prior against a much younger, quicker opponent in Paul? Most bookmakers seem skeptical, installing Tyson as only a slight favorite despite his hallowed fighting lineage.
The great unknown appears to be Tyson’s motivation levels. Is he truly ravenous for one last improbable act of ring conquest to pad his already lavish lifestyle? Or is the thrill of being tested by an athletic millennial too seductive to pass up for a proud warrior once deemed “the baddest man on the planet”?
Those questions should be answered when the hugely hyped Tyson-Paul freak show exhibition streams live around the world from AT&T Stadium in Texas on July 20th. For better or worse, the unlikely duo have already accomplished their mission of making the whole world gawk and wonder – how the hell did we get here?
