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It says something that several US states have banned betting on Friday’s fight between boxing’s Mike Tyson and attention’s Jake Paul. You cannot place a bet in New York, for example, or a wager in Colorado, where gaming commissioners are treating the event as something akin to an exhibition. That is despite the fight’s official stamp of approval by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, but then anything goes in Texas.
The fight is dressed up as a professional boxing bout, but it is easy to see why some inside the sport feel uneasy. The two outcomes of a genuinely brutal contest would be: a 27-year-old gym jock beats up a sickly 58-year-old grandfather; or one of the most ruthless boxers of all time knocks out an out-of-depth YouTuber. Either way, the optics aren’t great.
Which is why it’s unlikely either of those things will happen. Both boxers will wear heavy 14oz gloves to slow down hands and cushion impacts, rather than the standard 10oz gloves. The fight will take place across eight two-minute rounds, rather than the usual 12 three-minute rounds. It is officially sanctioned but it is also designed to avoid genuine horror.
The build-up has been filled with scepticism from people asking whether this is a genuine boxing bout or a wrestling-esque soap opera with its storyline already written.
“I’ve heard and believe that there is something in the contract which means Tyson can’t even try and hurt him,” Carl Froch told the Metro. “I’m sure if Tyson did land a big left or right hook on the chin of Jake Paul then he could render him unconscious … I can’t really see that happening, though. In my view it’s all fixed in advance for Paul, and Tyson won’t have the opportunity to do that.”
Mike Tyson’s former coach Teddy Atlas raised similar concerns.
“My only question … is it real?” Atlas told The Sun. “Maybe it is, I would hope it is… But is there going to be an honest effort to do what is always looking to be done, to go and destroy that guy, to knock him out?”
There is no evidence that the outcome of the fight is “fixed”, as Froch claims, not least because the practicality of writing the outcome into a legally binding boxing contract would be nigh-on impossible. Perhaps “stage managed” might be a more accurate assessment.
It is not the first time Paul’s boxing credentials have come under scrutiny. He had to deny rumours that his win against Tyron Woodley included a “no knockout policy” after unfounded accusations by MMA fighter Dillon Danis. A “script” for his fight with Tommy Fury circulated on social media before it was debunked as a hoax.
Paul is adamant about the fight’s legitimacy. In their press conference on Wednesday he goaded Tyson to be “that old savage Mike” in the ring so that no one can question his victory, and previously tweeted: “Official rules for #PaulTyson. Someone is getting knocked the f*** out. The end.”
A look back at Tyson’s most recent visit to the ring, a relatively tame exhibition with Roy Jones Jr, doesn’t exactly allay fears that Friday’s contest at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium might not live up to the fighting talk – all hat and no cattle, as they say in Texas. Yet there will have to be a result of some kind, with an experienced referee and three judges scoring ringside, certainly giving the pretence of an honest fight.
Paul’s business partner Nakisa Bidarian, whose company Most Valuable Promotions is hosting the night, pointed out that it would be a “federal crime” to fix the outcome.
“These are pro fights that consumers are making legal bets on,” he told ESPN. “I don’t think the critic who says these are not real fights thinks about [how] there would be jail time if we actually did this type of stuff. We have never, and we will never, do anything that’s other than above board and 100 per cent a pro fight unless we come out clearly and say, ‘Hey, this is an exhibition fight that is a show’.”
There is still plenty of concern about what exactly is being offered up here as entertainment. A US state commissioner has said that the event would be “problematic” for boxing if Tyson got hurt, while promoter Eddie Hearn, who is locked in a long-running legal battle with Paul after the boxer accused him of bribing a judge, said he wouldn’t dignify the fight by watching it.
“The reality is that 20 years ago when Mike Tyson retired from the sport, he was shot, completely finished,” Hearn said. “It was actually sad to watch. If I was Jake Paul, I’d just feel a little bit embarrassed to be honest with you. This is dangerous, irresponsible and, in my opinion, disrespectful to the sport of boxing.”
Tyson has been involved in many infamous fights during his career, including one which ended in chants of “Fix!” from a furious crowd in Las Vegas. It was Tyson’s first contest after leaving prison in 1996, and his challenger Bruce Seldon fell to the canvas under apparently light contact, twice, before being counted out. Seldon denied taking a dive, and the incident was quickly overshadowed by the murder of Tupac Shakur on the streets later that night.
That was a long time ago and a very different Tyson. It is not just that he is nearly 60 years old; he suffered a major health scare this year and “nearly died”, in his own words. Taking punishment from the younger, fitter man would be a disturbing sight even for boxing, which is why it probably won’t happen. It will be a spectacle, that’s for sure. There won’t be a script. But anyone tuning in for blood and thunder might do well to catch Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano beforehand.
