Mike Tyson looked a shadow of his former self when he lost to Jake Paul in their controversial fight last month. Critics of the fight openly doubted that the fight had even taken place, with many concerned about the former world heavyweight champion’s health.
One of the biggest concerns revolved around the 30-year age difference between Tyson and his younger rival. However, to be fair to the heavyweight icon, he started the fight showing plenty of determination. “Iron Mike” stalked Paul in the opening seconds of the fight and looked set to throw some of his trademark power punches.
However, the punches never came. Over the course of eight rounds, Tyson landed just 18 punches. While some attributed the 58-year-old boxer’s lack of activity to his age, others were convinced that Tyson decided to “stop to make sure he got paid” very early in the fight. “The problem child” ended up winning the fight by unanimous decision.
There were many times during the fight when it looked like the boxing legend was ready to strike, but backed out at the last second. Images like the ones in the video above quickly went viral after the fight. In fact, these conspiracy theories received so much attention that the event’s promoters even released a statement denying the allegations. Now, the boxer himself has spoken out.
In one of his first interviews since fight night with Fox Sports Radio, Tyson was asked directly if he held back during his fight with Paul. The answer was emphatic: “It was a real fight!”
What is worrying, however, is that Tyson insisted he didn’t remember much about the fight and hadn’t watched it since:
“I don’t remember much of the fight, I went blank. I didn’t watch it again. You know what I remember? I came back from the first round and Jake was kind of bowing. That’s the last thing I remember.”
Tyson does not believe he has suffered any adverse effects after returning to the ring just a few years after turning 60. On his condition after the fight, he said:
“I wasn’t tired or sweaty. I went to the house we were staying at, left the house with my wife and kids, went to the after party and then came back.”
A video has gone viral on social media showing Mike Tyson seemingly avoiding his punches against Jake Paul.
However, Tyson has already confirmed that he has no intentions of fighting professionally again and is not even entirely sure why he agreed to the fight with Paul.
“The day after the fight, I woke up and said to my wife, ‘Why did I do that? ’ I don’t know what the hell happened.”
While the fight was a huge commercial success (it drew huge crowds and recorded record-breaking viewing figures on Netflix), the action itself was awful. Whether intentional or not, Tyson barely threw a meaningful punch in the 16 minutes the two shared the ring. It’s not a spectacle the sport needs to see again
