Tyson vs. Paul

“The Baddest man on the planet” and “The problem child”. Imagine telling someone that Mike Tyson, of all people, would be fighting Jake Paul in the future in the 2010s. They’d question many things, mainly “Why him?” and “Why now?”. It’s not new for fighters who were once world champions to keep fighting past their prime. Roberto Duran, Floyd Mayweather, George Foreman, Archie Moore, Bernard Hopkins, and the list goes on and on. But most of those guys were in their 40s and some in their very early 50s, which, while not old in today’s age, in the case of boxing, though, by the time a fighter reaches the age of 35, they slowly start to decline. This makes this case even worse for Tyson, considering he’s 57 and will be 58 at the time of the fight.

     This whole fight seems to be a long-deserved beatdown that Jake Paul needs, but everyone seems to forget that even someone as badass as Tyson is he’s still human and one with a nerve condition (Sciatica). With more underlying issues, with some people saying the fight could lead to brain bleeding, which has led to the death of many fighters in the ring who were half as old as Tyson. Simply put, I don’t want to imagine anything going wrong in Tyson’s corner; to imagine him doing damage to himself for such a small thing is saddening.  As of the time of writing this, the rules have been officially sanctioned by having both fighters use 14-ounce gloves (most pro bouts use 8 or 10 ounces), eight rounds with each being 2 minutes, and the headgear has been ditched to make the fight seem more “real.”

     To be less biased, I will give Paul credit by saying he isn’t a rookie stepping in either; anyone who steps in the ring has my respect, but of all people to fight, he decided on an aged champion. It seems to leave a bad taste in my mouth. Only on fight night will we be able to dictate what’ll happen, so until then, I wish both of these guys luck and, hopefully, a decent fight.