Tyson's fight with Paul arouses extreme emotions, as do its participants. In terms of sports, you can't expect an incredible level. “Iron” was once a great champion and the best boxer in the world. However, today he is 58 years old, and his last professional fight was in 2005, when he was defeated by Kevin McBride. As for Jake Paul (10-1), he is still seen primarily as a YouTuber and celebrity. His record lacks victories over renowned boxers, because of old champions MMA far from the top form, such as Tyron Woodley, Ben Askren or Nate Diaz cannot be considered as such.
Tyson and Paul in a fight for big money
Nevertheless, this duel fulfills its basic purpose. It arouses great interest and generates a lot of money. For the fight itself at AT&T Stadium in Arlington (Texas), according to various estimates Tyson is supposed to get eye20 million dollars, and his younger rival almost twice as much. Both men tried to make the fight even louder, provoking each other in the media recently. The apogee of these efforts came during the official weigh-in before the fight.
Tyson slapped Paul. It's obvious why he did it
Tyson, who turned out to be barely half a kilo heavier than his rival (103.6 kg vs 103.1 kg), decided to heat up the atmosphere when, after weighing, both players they came face to face with each other. “Iron” approached Paul normally, and he decided to be a little foolish and first approached him on all fours, and then quickly jumped up to his rival. After a while, Tyson slapped his opponent, who was 31 years younger than him, and those gathered around quickly separated them from each other.
Why did the 58-year-old lose his temper so quickly? A recording explaining the entire incident appeared on the Internet. The information for USA Today was provided by Tyson's former sparring partner and friend Tom Patti. In his opinion, Paul stepped on his rival's foot when jumping, which he perceived as disrespect and quickly “explained” his mistake to the YouTuber. Additionally, “Iron” himself once emphasized in a GQ Sports interview that he hates it when people step on his feet. In the video of the incident, you can actually see that Paul stepped on Tyson.
Intentional or not, we don't know. He certainly didn't hurt much from the blow itself. When asked about this by journalist Ariel Helwani, he was not impressed. – That was a sweet little punch Mike, You hit like a real bitch! Now it's personal! Now you must die in the ring! – Paul started shouting. This fight will be broadcast exclusively on Netflix for subscribers