Mike Tyson and Jake Paul descended to weird, uncomfortable depths to promote their controversial July 20 boxing match, which will air on Netflix from the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Though the main event was long expected to be an exhibition, the sanctioning body in Texas has seemingly approved the bout to be an official one, meaning a winner and loser can be determined, knockouts are permitted, and the result will live permanently on their respective records.
Considering the platform at their disposal on Netflix, the show has not been bereft of promotion and marketing, and Tyson and Paul were present at a pre-fight press conference this week in which both made questionable comments about one another.
Much of the media event stood on routine ground for back-and-forth in combat sports, with each fighter vowing to finish the other. Tyson called Paul fat and ridiculed his rival’s record of feasting on former MMA fighters. The internet sensation, meanwhile, pointed to a fight in Tyson’s early career from 1990 — seven years before he was even born.
But then things went downhill when Paul said, on a live stream he broadcast on his official YouTube channel, he wanted to “kiss Mike’s big juicy lips.”
Responding, Tyson clarified if Paul did indeed want to kiss him. He then said about Paul: “That’s so ironic that he said that because I saw pictures of him dancing at 16, doing that little dance on YouTube, and for some reason, I had an erection.”
Deontay Wilder Says Mike Tyson is ‘Too Old For This’
The distasteful comments are somehow fitting for the general theme of this event that it is deeply riddled in controversy.
The former WBC heavyweight world boxing champion Deontay Wilder observed, for instance, that Tyson — at 57 — is “too old for this.”
To Sportsbook Review, via Daily Mail, Wilder said the commission shouldn’t have granted Tyson an official license to box “because he hasn’t been active in 20 years, so they should not just license him because of who he is, that’s how people get hurt.”
He added: “People can get hit in the wrong place and at the wrong time, there’s lots of examples where guys have been hit into a coma. It’s easy to do. He’s too old for this.”
One of the most influential figures in sports media, Stephen A. Smith, also criticized the event and went as far to say he was “saddened by it” and “disgusted by it” on ESPN ‘First Take.
Said Smith: “I don’t like it one bit. I’m not taking anything away from the great Mike Tyson, who we all treasure because of the years of greatness he gave us, but he is 57.
“When are you going to get in the ring with a modern day reputable fighter with a big name who isn’t 20-plus years removed from retirement? The only time we’ve seen [Tyson] in the ring in that span is for an exhibition with Roy Jones Jr.
“Tyson can hurt anybody … and I’m not dismissing that, but he hasn’t been fighting, and Jake Paul hasn’t fought any real, ranked professional boxers. Why should this be a sanctioned boxing match
“Nobody’s asking him to go in the ring with some Canelo, [Dmitry] Bivol, or an [Artur] Beterbiev … nobody’s asking him to do that, but you could get in the ring with dudes who are actually fighting professionally in the modern day era.”
‘Only Jealous People Hate’ The Fight, Tyson Fury Said
Tyson Fury, who has a fight of his own to prepare for Saturday against Oleksandr Usyk, appears to be one of the few apparent neutrals who are actively cheering for the fight rather than either staying neutral, or adding to the backlash.
“Only fighters who are not getting paid and not getting laid, they’re the fighters who are jealous people,” Fury said on MMA Fighting’s show The MMA Hour.
“I don’t know what’s to be negative about it. I’m over the moon for it. Looking forward to it. I get to see the legend Mike Tyson back in the ring in my era … what a treat.”
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Mike Tyson & Jake Paul Went to Weird, Uncomfortable Depths to Promote Netflix Fight