Tyson vs Paul
I don’t follow boxing at all. It is not a sport I seek out to watch or want to know about. I do try to understand the history, especially when learning about the greats of boxing. Ali, Sugar Ray, Foreman, Mayweather, Frazier. And of course, Mike Tyson. Even if you have never watched boxing, you know the names of Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson.
Ali, the fast and quick-hitting GOAT of boxing had the loudest mouth of anyone but would talk about more than just boxing. Then there’s Tyson. Perhaps one of the scariest people to ever walk the earth. He’d win fights before he would step into the ring. He came from violence and poverty, something that stuck with him in his career and part of what made him so good in the ring. As of outside the ring, he was sent to prison for the rape of 18-year-old Desiree Washington. He was scary, he was dangerous, and a cold killer. He was one of the biggest names in sports in the late 80s and 90s. A name cemented in sports and pop culture. Which is why Friday night's fight against Jake Paul was so sad.
Jake Paul is loud. He is annoying. He is an influencer who has only beaten either non boxers or fighters that are out of their prime. No one on earth was rooting for Jake Paul to win this fight. Everyone was hoping and praying that he would finally get shut up by one of the greatest boxers ever, who despite his age, could hopefully still do some damage. That’s what I wanted when this fight was first announced. I was praying for Tyson to destroy Paul. However, as the fight got closer, and the reality of what was gonna happen set in, I started to get very worried for Mike Tyson. Jake Paul is 27 years old. Mike Tyson is double his age at 58. As the fight got closer, I realized that 58-year-old Tyson beating 27-year-old Jake Paul was silly, and I started to get concerned that we were going to watch an old man get beat up on Live TV.
Tyson looked old on Friday. His legs were not with him at all. He was wobbly, taking punch after punch, and anyone who thinks “Oh well, at least he went 8 rounds with Paul shows how good he is” is kidding themselves. Paul could have knocked out Tyson if he wanted to. He could have made that fight very bad for Mike Tyson. I do not like Jake Paul by any means, but I thank him for not beating up an old man. Yes, Tyson wasn’t doing well, but the fight could have been much worse. Even still, it was sad to see a boxing legend look so old and so slow in the ring. Iron Mike would have forced Jake Paul to leave in a body bag.
I wish the fight never happened. What we saw from Mike Tyson on Friday night is not the legacy of Mike Tyson. Watching a 27-year-old beat up an old man long out of his prime is not good for the world of boxing. It would not be good for any sport. But it is especially bad in a sport where you must try and hurt your opponent. I hope that Mike Tyson truly decides to hang up the gloves after this one. His legacy of Iron Mike will still be in the minds of many.
