Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul fight circus finally comes to an end

The circus has come and gone, but the comments from so many fight fans after Mike Tyson’s “comeback” show a staggering truth.

COMMENT

Were you not entertained?

It seems the resounding response from millions watching on was no.

But surely the better question is — what exactly were you expecting?

For those of us that are old enough to remember his prime, Mike Tyson was the scariest boxer that’s ever lived.

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While Muhammad Ali is widely considered the greatest and the fight game is littered with a host of sensational, often charismatic champions, no one sparked fear quite like “Iron” Mike.

Uncharacteristically short for a heavyweight boxer at just 178cm, Tyson reduced opponents that towered over him to putty.

When he began establishing his legacy, the story quickly shifted from whether Tyson would win to exactly how long it would take.

Commencing his career a few months short of his 19th birthday, Tyson won three of his first four fights in the first round.

After a couple of second and third-round wins, he then embarked on a staggering 10-fight streak when he only had to come out for the second round once, a victory over Conroy Nelson 30 seconds into round two.

Tyson annihilated his opponents, fighting with rage and extraordinary power, leaving commentators wondering if he would ever be beaten.

Prime Mike Tyson was the scariest prospect in boxing.

He became the biggest name in the sport and one of the most recognisable faces on the planet, with his black trunks, cropped hairstyle and chipped-tooth smile suddenly everywhere.

As quickly as Tyson rose to stardom, however, his descent was just as fast.

It started in 1992 with his three-year stint in jail for raping 18-year-old Desiree Washington in Indianapolis.

While he did win back a heavyweight belt, he lost it to Evander Holyfield in 1996 in his second career defeat before his infamous “Bite Fight” in the rematch the following year.

Just 30 years old, the spark had gone and he lost three of his last four fights — horribly outclassed by Lennox Lewis in Tyson’s last title fight in 2002 before quitting on his stool against Kevin McBride in 2005.

He had lost his speed, his power and his intimidation long before then and that was the end of a legendary, hugely controversial career.

Or so we thought.

Tyson handcuffed for a sentencing hearing in 1994. Photo: AFP

There was a stunned reaction when it was announced Tyson was going to fight Jake Paul in a legitimate, sanctioned bout, at the age of 58.

Paul is just 27 years old and wasn’t born the first time Tyson fought Holyfield.

It was a joke, a sham, surely it wasn’t really going to go ahead?

Not only did it go ahead, it had an audience in the tens of millions.

While this writer felt the whole thing was a circus, there was no way I would be doing anything else this Saturday in November.

Why? Well, plenty of good marketing, with the two fighters bringing out the usual animosity and quotable moments, along with those ever so short clips of Tyson throwing punches.

But the real reason was the nagging thought: He couldn’t do it … could he?

As expected, Mike Tyson was outclassed by Jake Paul. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for Netflix)

Jake Paul being awarded the victory. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for Netflix)

We haven’t run a poll, but we’d be confident the reason the vast majority of people tuned in was to see if somehow, someway, Tyson could recapture just a sliver of that old magic and send Paul back to YouTube.

But it was never going to happen.

Tyson lost his ability and his mobility in his mid-30s, when the burden of thousands of hours in the ring, plus his incarceration, reduced him to something close to a mere mortal.

Not someone any real mortal would ever want to challenge, but also someone that had no business being back in a professional fight.

I spent more time today hoping Tyson wouldn’t blow out a knee or hurt his back as I did hoping he could land that one punch.

“Mike’s not looking good at all. His age is showing,” Roy Jones Jr said in commentary.

“He’s in big trouble. Not good at all. He doesn’t have it anymore. Legs are gone.”

That’s right Roy, but it didn’t happen today, those legs were gone well before the advent of the iPhone.

Shaquille O'Neal and Charlize Theron attended the fight. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Netflix)

Evander Holyfield was there too, with wife Shevon. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Netflix)

Afterwards, countless viewers were taking to social media to decry the fight as a charade, but that’s all it ever was.

“I’m more relieved than anything,” Hall of Fame boxer Andre Ward said afterwards on Netflix.

“I didn’t want to see him take a bad fall, get hit with a shot and something bad happen.

“It’s an event, it’s a 58-year-old legend saying ‘I’m going to test this YouTuber out and see what I got’.

“Hopefully people aren’t too disappointed, but come on he’s 58 years old, what did you expect?”

The sport of boxing itself is a shadow of its former self.

For over a century, prize fighters were some of the biggest figures in the world, let alone sport.

Muhammad Ali, “Sugar” Ray Leonard, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, “Marvellous” Marvin Hagler, they were all as big as any star from any other sport during their primes.

Sadly, today, YouTube stars, UFC fighters trying to box, even NRL players in Australia, draw as much attention as the sport’s best pure fighters.

Tyson on his stool during the fight. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for Netflix © 2024)

It’s become a social media game.

Pre-fight, Shaquille O’Neal and Rob Gronkowski discussed a fight event of NBA players against NFL players.

It sounds ludicrous but it could well go ahead and it will undoubtedly make a fortune and that’s why these things keep happening.

Many have turned off boxing over the brutality of the sport in this day and age of CTE and science.

But it also doesn’t have the characters of the past to ignite that passion.

Tyson may well be the last of a dying breed and while he wouldn’t rule it out, the last thing he needs to do, please, is get back into a ring once more.

Actor Rosie Perez, a big boxing fan it turns out who was part of the Netflix commentary team and offered some solid insights, had this to say towards the end of Saturday’s show.

“It’s incredible to see how stunned the crowd is,” Rosie Perez said.

Exactly.