I hated when Roy Jones Jr wouldn't just retire. He still fights and he's a couple of years younger than Mike. What's the point watching a 50-something boxer get beat by a 30-something boxer? All it does is tarnish a stellar career.
If they got into an actual exchange Tyson still has the power to knock him out, and they didn’t realize Tyson would be struggling to walk while Paul made him just chase him around the ring for 15 minutes. Paul kept insisting he wanted to knock Mike out, and while Mike is obviously too old to peekaboo box anymore, he can take enough shots that a counter in a slugfest would give him at least a chance. That being said, it was pretty obviously going to be a money fight where Mike made $20 million for standing in the ring for 8 rounds and Paul just wanted to be able to say he beat Tyson, and Mike was never going to win on points - his chance was Paul getting in close and catching him with that short left hook.
I watched the fight. Paul stalked and dominated Tyson, clearly rocking him at certain points. The reason why people are crying fake fight is because they can’t come to grips with a 27 year old boxer out-slugging a 58 year old former boxer.
Putting aside the theories about it being pre-determined, I think many people overestimate what a 58 year old with a purported knee injury can do. Also, IMO, many people who haven’t been following Paul don’t give him sufficient credit for his punching power and boxing skills. I think he was holding back a little.
Hats off to Mike Tyson and co for swindling people out of millions of dollars... again. The man is 57 years old and hasn't been able to put together a worthwhile performance (worthy of PPV dollars) for over 20 years. Anybody who spent actual money on this fight doesn't understand boxing. Anybody who saw the jokefest that was Roy Jones Jr vs. Tyson back in 2020 knew what this was going to be. That they were actually able to get people interested and excited about this fight is a great testament to marketing power and know how. 57 years on Mike Tyson is a lot more than 57 years on most heavyweight fighters. Why? Because Mike is a short heavyweight with dinosaur arms and he fights at a natural disadvantage from the start, because of this. When he was young, in his teens and 20's, he had the speed and reflexes to overcome this natural disadvantage and beat lots of fighters who possessed much longer reaches. But once the drugs and alcohol and AGE set in, Mike could no longer beat opponents with his lightning hand speed. So he was always going to lose to Holyfield or any decent fighter after he was released from prison, because those fighters had such a natural advantage in reach over him and Mike was no longer young enough to outwork that disadvantage. It is incredible to me that people still pay money to watch Tyson fight. It is the epitome of celebrity worship/marketing heist. Can't blame Mike one bit for cashing in and by all means, at 57 years old, he is not letting himself go physically. I actually expected he would let himself go physically, as most fighters do. But even at 10% bodyfat, at 57, he is slower than molasses and he has very short arms. He was never going to beat any fighter in his prime. Even a loser like Jake Paul. Tyson is the guy who was knocked out by Kevin McBride 20 years ago, lol. But he was going to be worth watching at 57? Again, kudos to Mike on the easy pay day and keeping his celebrity status vibrant and resilient. Can't hate him for that.
The issue is Prime Tyson has been dead for over 30 years. Kudos to Mike for keeping himself in good physical shape, which has allowed him to dupe fans out of millions for performances that should have never been aired.
The power and ferocity of Tyson 1985 was unprecedented. I recall him dropping a top 10 heavyweight in the first volley.
My father in law's best friend was a team doctor for Oklahoma State but he had also served as a doctor for the Olympic boxing team when Tyson competed. While he did not win the gold medal, he (the doctor) told me he was the strongest fighter he had ever seen. He said he saw Tyson punch a guy and made him go horizontal in the air before landing on the ground.
When Cus said he hit with "bad intentions", that was the truth. That perhaps is part of his downfall in that he placed more emphasis on the knockout punch, less emphasis on strategic boxing. It worked until it didn't.