For the first time in 19 years, the former undisputed world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson returned to the ring to fight Jake Paul in Texas, losing via unanimous decision in the fight shown worldwide on Netflix
Mike Tyson joked he has a “biting fixation” after repeatedly biting down on his boxing gloves during his comeback fight against Jake Paul.
On a night where Netflix streams crashed and fans walked out on the main event in Dallas, Tyson’s first professional fight in 19 years ended in defeat. Tyson, 58, had no answer for the 27-year-old YouTube star, who claimed victory on the judges’ scorecards 80-72 with two judges and 79-73 with the third.
The pair embraced in the ring post-fight, with announcer Ariel Helwani asking Tyson – who had been struggling to move throughout, clearly hampered both by age and a knee injury – about his display. He queried: “The broadcast team was debating what you were doing with your gloves, was it a mouth piece issue or were you just biting on your glove?”
“I have a habit of biting my gloves when I fight,” Mike Tyson replied before adding: “I have a biting fixation.”
Tyson insisted he had been pleased with his display, despite struggling to keep pace with Paul and barely landing a punch of note.
“I am happy,” he said. “I knew he was a good fighter. I knew he was prepared. I didn’t prove nothing to anybody, only to myself. I am just happy with what I can do.”
And the man formerly known as the ‘Baddest man on the planet’ paid tribute to Paul, insisting he was a “very good fighter”.
Paul, speaking on Netflix after his triumph, said: “Mike Tyson, it’s such an honour. Let’s give it up for Mike, the greatest to ever do it. We wouldn’t be here without him today with him, this man is an icon. It’s just an honour to be able to fight him. It was really tough fight. I expected it to be.”
“He was exactly what I thought. One of the greatest to ever do it. An icon. I was trying to hurt him a little bit. I was scared he was going to hurt me. I did my best.”
Sadly, there was little of Mike Tyson’s famous power left to do that, on a night where fans streamed out midway through the bout, such was the one-sided nature of the bout.