Mike Tyson Strikes Jake Paul at Weigh-In, Claims Younger Opponent Made First Contact
For many fight fans — and, frankly, even non-fight fans — the spectacle and allure of celebrity prize fighter Jake Paul tangling with one of the most feared boxers in history (albeit well past his prime), Mike Tyson, is hard to ignore.
After all, it’s not often that the “David” in the David vs. Goliath parable is a 58-year-old, former multi-time boxing world champion like Tyson.
But that’s to be expected when Tyson’s opponent for Friday’s mega-fight on Netflix is over 30 years his junior.
The 27-year-old Paul, who was perhaps best known for being a viral YouTube content creator before turning to prize-fighting, is widely expected to beat Tyson in the ballyhooed main event of Friday’s card — but the excitement and anticipation are palpable regardless.
(According to USA Today, the card will feature seven total fights, including Paul-Tyson, and will take place at the AT&T Stadium, where the Dallas Cowboys play, in Arlington, Texas.)
Given the spectacle of all this, it should surprise nobody that there were already fireworks during the ceremonial weigh-ins for Tyson and Paul on Thursday.
Specifically, Tyson got in the first shot of this surprisingly bitter feud, but he’s claiming it wasn’t totally unprovoked.
You can watch the slap heard across the streaming world below:
MIKE TYSON HITS JAKE PAUL AT THE WEIGH IN #PaulTyson
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LIVE ON NETFLIX
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15
8 PM ET | 5 PM PT pic.twitter.com/kFU40jVvk0— Netflix (@netflix) November 15, 2024
According to what Tyson told the New York Post, his slap was a response to Paul literally stepping on his toes.
“I was in my socks, and he had on shoes,” Tyson told the outlet. “He stepped on my toe because he is a f***ing a**hole. I wanted to think it happened by accident.
“But now I think it may have happened on purpose.”
In fairness to Tyson, the above video and others do appear to show some contact between the feet of the fighters.
To his credit, Paul barely flinched at the strike and offered quite the NSFW response instead.
“I’m f***ing him up,” Paul said after the viral incident. “He hits like a b****. It’s personal now. He must die.”
Speaking of dying, this fight almost didn’t happen because Tyson had some serious health issues earlier this year.
The fight was originally supposed to happen in July, but it was postponed after Tyson suffered from an ulcer-flare up while flying.
(Tyson attributed the stomach ulcers to eating “too much bad food and stuff.”)
It’s also worth mentioning that, despite the palpable anticipation, many fight fans have ridiculed and criticized Paul for accepting a fight with someone who qualified for AARP benefits nearly a decade ago — to say nothing of the fact that he’s recovering from an ulcer.
The Netflix fight card begins at 8 p.m. ET Friday.
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