“Iron” Mike Tyson was 22 days away from his 36th birthday the last time he fought for a world title. That fight, on June 8, 2002, in Memphis, Tennessee, saw him knocked out by Lennon Lewis in the eighth of 12 scheduled rounds. Tyson would lose twice more, to complete non-entities, before calling it a day in June 2005.
Or so we thought. Jake Paul, the 27-year-old celebrity YouTuber and actor, who wasn’t even born when Tyson was the planet’s most-feared heavyweight, convinced him to come out of retirement for one big payday. In a ring set up inside the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas – usually home to the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys – the 58-year-old ‘baddest dude’ tried to dust off the cobwebs for a bout scheduled for eight two-minute rounds.
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But you can’t fight Father Time. Tyson was 20 years and four months old, and 100kg of pure menace and muscle, when he won the WBC World Heavyweight title against Trevor Berbick in November 1986. Nearly four decades on, he barely landed a punch as the taller Paul – 6’ 1” to Tyson’s 5’ 10” – kept him at arm’s length after the first two rounds.
Tyson did land a couple of trademark jabs in the opening two rounds, momentarily rocking Paul, who was clearly wary of allowing his opponent to get too close. But with his right knee in a brace and no hint of the dancing feet of old, Tyson seldom got close enough to do any real damage. Two judges scored it 79-73, while the third judge had Paul winning every round in an 80-72 verdict.
Instead of the traditional three-minute rounds, Tyson had requested for those of two-minute duration so the audience could see more action, but he was almost a statue in the last half of the fight. Where once he destroyed opponents in less than two minutes – Michael Spinks lasted 91 seconds, and Carl ‘The Truth’ Williams 93 – this aging version of Tyson shuffled around the ring even as Paul landed the odd jab and moved away.
Prime Tyson had devastating punching speed, and when he got close, the upper-cuts and hooks were savage enough to bring down buildings. This Tyson never got within range to unleash those punches, and didn’t look like he had the energy to throw them either. He didn’t disgrace himself, but he also did nothing to disprove the notion that boxing is a younger person’s sport.
As for Paul, he can dine out on this for the rest of his life. His name will now be mentioned alongside legends like Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis, not to mention James ‘Buster’ Douglas, the first to beat Tyson, in Tokyo all those years ago.
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