Mike Tyson looked a shadow of his former self when losing to Jake Paul in their controversial fight last month. Critics of the bout openly doubted whether the fight should have taken place at all, with many worried about the former world heavyweight champion’s health.
One of the biggest concerns surrounded the 30-year age gap between Tyson and his younger foe. To be fair to the heavyweight icon, though, he started the contest showing plenty of intent. ‘Iron Mike’ stalked Paul in the opening seconds of the fight and looked poised to unleash some of his trademark power punches.
However, the blows never came. Across the eight round bout, Tyson found the mark with just 18 punches. While some put the 58-year-old’s lack of activity down to his age, others were convinced that Tyson decided to ‘stop to make sure he got paid’ very early on in the fight. ‘The Problem Child’ went on to win the fight via a wide unanimous decision verdict.
There were many occasions during the fight where it looked like the boxing legend was ready to strike – only to pull out at the last second. Footage such as that contained in the video above quickly went viral after the fight. In fact, these conspiracy theories got so much attention that promoters for the event even put out a statement denying the accusations. Now, the man himself has had his say.
Mike Tyson Denies Allegations That his Fight With Jake Paul was Fixed
‘Iron Mike’ has rubbished fan theories surrounding his performance
In one of his first interviews since fight night with Fox Sports Radio, Tyson was asked directly about whether he had held back during his bout with Paul. The response was emphatic: “It was a real fight!”
Concerningly, though, Tyson insisted he didn’t remember much of the contest – and hasn’t watched it back since:
“I don’t remember the fight that much, I kind of blanked out. I haven’t watched the fight back. You know what I remember… coming back from the first round and Jake was doing some sort of bow… that’s the last thing I remember.”
Tyson doesn’t believe he suffered any ill-effects after returning to the ring just a few years shy of his 60th birthday. He said of his condition following the fight:
“I wasn’t tired, I wasn’t sweaty. I went to the house we were staying in, I left the house with my wife and kids, went to the after-party then went back.”
A video has gone viral on social media showing Mike Tyson appearing to pull his punches against Jake Paul.
However, Tyson has already confirmed that he doesn’t intend to fight again professionally and isn’t even entirely sure why he took the bout with Paul.
“The day after the fight, I woke up and told my wife ‘why did I do that?’ I just don’t know what the hell went on.”
While the bout was a massive commercial success – attracting a huge crowd and record viewing figures on Netflix – the action itself was dire. Whether intentional or not, Tyson barely threw a meaningful punch in the 16 minutes that the pair shared the ring. It’s not a spectacle that the sport ever needs to see again.
