Mike Tyson admitted to his wife he wasn’t sure why he fought Jake Paul after losing to the YouTuber.
Despite retiring from the ring in 2005 after a loss to Kevin McBride, the now 58 year old boxing legend came back last month to face the influencer-turned-pugilist.
Some in the boxing world backed ‘Iron Mike’ to cause an upset against odds in Texas, despite his advancing years. Tyson approached the fight with dedication; however, he couldn’t defy time on the night of the match, showing signs of fatigue by the third round and ultimately losing on points.
Post-match saw fans and celebrities alike wondering why Tyson agreed to the fight, with Tyson himself echoing this confusion during a Fox Sports Radio interview. He disclosed, “I never thought about that! The day after the fight, I woke up and told my wife ‘why did I do that? ‘ I just don’t know what the hell went on.” When probed about his family’s reaction to his revelation, he shared that they were extremely ‘supportive’ after the polarising event.
Moreover, Tyson shockingly confessed to forgetting much of the Paul bout. “I don’t remember the fight that much, I kind of blanked out,” he confessed. “I haven’t watched the fight. You know what I remember… coming back from the first round and Jake was doing some sort of bow… that’s the last thing I remember. I wasn’t tired, I wasn’t sweaty. I went to the house we were staying in, I left the house with my wife and kids, went to the after-party then went back.”
After taking it relatively easy on Tyson during their Texas bout, Paul openly acknowledged holding back. “Yeah, definitely. Definitely a bit. You know, I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt. I couldn’t really get him to engage me or slip shots and do something super cool or whatever, but I don’t care about what people have to say. They’re always going to have something to say and that it is what it is.”
Despite chatter that the American boxing great appeared ‘tired’, Tyson himself dismissed such speculation. In an exclusive with 7News at a Miami event, Tyson remarked: “Magically. It just happened so quick. Eight round were over fast. I wasn’t tired. I wasn’t sweating. I didn’t understand that.”
However, according to Tyson’s son Amir, his father did face some challenges: “His gas tank after the third round was just shot, ” he disclosed. ” That’s all it was. He just kept on staying throughout. He did his best. No holding back, he did the best he could at his age.”
