This Friday marked the return of one of the most decorated fighters in boxing history. 58-year-old “Iron” Mike Tyson returned to the ring this weekend to fight a new opponent: Jake Paul. Paul, who has had numerous different careers, including a content creator, actor, and owner of his own line of deodorant, has made his way into the boxing world.
Sitting at 11 wins and one loss before his fight with Tyson, including seven knockouts, the former vlogger has had a promising start to his career. However, some question the legitimacy of his record due to the fact that many of his opponents have either not been professional boxers or are much older. Paul’s one loss came from Tommy Fury, arguably the only real boxer that Paul has faced. The rest of his wins came against non-boxers, like Tyron Woodley, Nate Diaz, and Ben Askren, who was 36, while Jake Paul was just 24. Paul has also fought multiple celebrities, including Nate Robinson, a professional basketball player.
Friday’s fight was quite controversial for a number of reasons. First, the fight consisted of only eight two-minute rounds as opposed to the norm of twelve three-minute rounds. On top of that, both fighters used 14-ounce gloves rather than the standard 10-ounce gloves. The fight went the distance, lasting all eight rounds and resulting in Paul winning by unanimous decision. Tyson did not perform like his former self, throwing only 97 punches and landing just 18. Paul managed to throw 278 punches but only landed 78, disappointing many fans. Many people attribute Tyson’s poor performance to his old age.
Davis Bender ‘25 commented, “[Tyson] was already at a disadvantage before the fight even started. Even with the shorter rounds, his age and slowness really showed through.” While no one expected Tyson to live up to his former glory, his performance was still quite disappointing. Despite being 58, Tyson looked to be in incredible shape both physically and mentally during his training. Tyson did have an injury earlier this year, which ended up postponing the fight and could ultimately have been a contributing factor to Tyson’s slow movements and lack of aggressiveness.
Many other fans believe that the fight was scripted from the start; they think that Tyson sold out for the money. The videos of Tyson’s training regimen on social media made him look like a completely different person than the one who stepped in the ring on Friday night. People have also pointed out that Tyson bit his gloves multiple times throughout the fight, looking as if he was holding back. Alex Michels ‘25 felt very confident that the heavyweight bout was staged. “That fight was so scripted,” said Michels. “Mike Tyson wasn’t himself on Friday and something was for sure going on behind the scenes.”
Despite his poor performance, Tyson claimed to be pleased with himself. After the fight, he called out Paul’s older brother, Logan, claiming to not be done with his boxing career. The fight was an incredibly poor showing from both sides. It was a disappointment.
