On November 15th, Mike Tyson made his way to the ring once again after four years. This time, however, the fight against his opponent, Jake Paul, would count towards his professional record, unlike 2020, which was an exhibition bout. Although people were excited to see Tyson get back in the ring, the night ended with disappointment. Jake Paul unanimously beat Tyson, and Tyson really didn’t do anything. Tyson could barely throw a punch and was slow, but this is understandable. Tyson is 58 years old, fighting a young, up and coming 27 year old. Are people really surprised that he couldn’t keep up?
This is my issue with the fight. Why in the world is a 58 year old fighting a 27 year old? Any fighting fan knows that it doesn’t matter how good you used to be, age affects how you fight. Tyson is one of the greatest boxers of all time, but as we saw, it was obvious that he wouldn’t be as good as he used to be. Jake Paul should be embarrassed for making this fight happen. He’s 27 years old, has some good potential, but instead of fighting young boxers that are contenders for belts, he’s been fighting MMA fighters and retired old men.
What annoys me the most isn’t even that, though. The fight before Tyson and Paul featured a women’s fight between Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor. They fought ten rounds for the undisputed world championship once in 2022, ending in a split decision win for Taylor. It was the best women’s fight of all time. Now, these two women are back at it for the same world title. People know that they’re two of the best women’s fighters of all time, and yet this fight was a co-main event. I know Mike Tyson is huge and everyone wants to watch him fight, but should there ever be a case in boxing where the best women’s fighters of all time are featured below a fight with a Youtuber and a 58 year old? Serrano and Taylor went ten rounds in what was a fight of the year contender, with Taylor getting a controversial unanimous decision victory over Serrano.
There are so many fighters out there that are working to become world champions, and yet we’re focusing on an influencer who has fought one young boxer, and, of course, lost. I hope more people realize how embarrassing this was for boxing, as people need to stop supporting these types of fights and instead work on making the right people famous.
I’m Angelo Thoyas, and that’s my take.
