Summary
Jake Paul defeated 58-year-old Mike Tyson in an eight-round boxing match, with unanimous scores of 79-73 and 80-72.
The bout, widely criticized as a “stunted show,” highlighted Tyson’s physical decline, including issues with sciatica, a stomach ulcer, and knee problems.
Tyson, once a feared heavyweight champion, struggled to compete, while Paul’s performance lacked effort and authenticity.
Fans, initially supportive of Tyson, grew disenchanted, booing by the final rounds.
Tyson dismissed the fight’s significance beforehand, rejecting the concept of legacy as meaningless. The event was seen as a cynical, contrived spectacle.
I thought it was cute all the people saying Mike was going to murder him. As a 45 year old boxer I am pretty exhausted after 3 minutes. 5 rounds later and I’m ready for a nice cup of tea in an armchair sitting by the window. Time catches up to us all.
Mike though? How is there any universe where this wasn’t scripted
Given that Mike just kinda stood and let Jake swing at him after two rounds of Mike trying to “make it look convincing”, yeah no, this was scripted as all hell.
I don’t think it was necessarily scripted, but it wasn’t raw boxing. Nor could it be, given the contenders. Once Tyson ran out of gas, any other boxer would’ve gone for the KO, while Paul just kinda danced around to drag out the latter rounds. It was clearly an exhibition to get them both paid, not a real match.
In this universe he is nearly 60 and his opponent was in his 20s. Don’t get me wrong, I still wouldn’t fight Tyson because I’m 40 and in, at best, mediocre shape but we can acknowledge that he is well past his prime.
No shit, all these social media showmatches are just grifts. Anyone who thinks they are real fights are loopy.
From my perspective, he was being way too careful to avoid hurting himself. At 58 you’re not going to recover as well, and dude has a bad knee which is a major disadvantage in boxing.
Plus, after not really boxing for 20 years, it’s perfectly believable that he lost his edge.