bigrus

Mike Tyson didn’t hurt his legacy with the big-money Jake Paul fight; But a former rival offers a cautionary tale

Harry November 18, 2024

On Friday night in Dallas, Mike Tyson joined a sad list of men behaving badly in a dangerous sport, and he wasn’t bothered by it.

Boxing’s fallen idols always returned to the scene of their former glory; they are men trying to discover whether they have one last fight left. In Friday’s match against Jake Paul in Dallas, Tyson wasn’t after such ridiculous facts or concepts because he was back for the money. And many more, perhaps up to $60 million (£47.5 million).

The giants of the ring continue to fight because they want to, and contrary to popular belief, their reputations will not be damaged if they are tarnished by a child star from Disney or a rookie YouTuber. There was nothing Paul could do to Mike Tyson on Friday night that would in any way diminish Tyson’s boxing accomplishments. To believe otherwise is just laziness; Tyson’s dignity, especially the clip of his r*ge hanging from his protective straps, was hit, not his place in boxing history.

In recent years, Evander Holyfield and Roy Jones Jr, both true greats, have battled for one more victory, one more night under the stars. Jones Jr. may not be finished yet.

In 2021, Holyfield was 58 when he met Vitor Belfort, one of the UFC’s true villains – the same as Tyson last Friday; The fight ended at 1:49 of the first round with Holyfield falling to the ground and looking like an old man who misjudged his move to a nursing home. It was sickening to witness Holyfield’s stumble and confusion every time he was tapped by Belfort. Holyfield’s balance was demonic, and Belfort had no reservations about hurting the old man in front of him, unlike Paul did against Tyson. Belfort looked like he wanted to hurt Holyfield, and that was dangerous.

Meanwhile, the Belfort fight, which was put on as an ‘exhibition’, was 35 years after Holyfield won his first world title. Fortunately, Holyfield has not fought under any rules and on any ground since then.

Jones Jr.’s story is disturbing. The former middleweight, super-middleweight, light-heavyweight and heavyweight world champion appears to have no idea how far he has fallen. Jones Jr is now 55, his last sanctioned fight was in late 2023 when he lost to a debutant. Jones Jr. was 54 that night and was struggling with his memory and instinct. To be fair, there’s a lot of memory and instinct to play with, and sometimes Jones Jr can still look like the man he was in the early nineties.

There were moments Friday when Tyson looked like Tyson, but not when he was fighting.

In 2020, Jones Jr and Tyson fought for an exhibition and it was a quality match, a good watch for the purists, but not what the bloodthirsty mob wanted.

Jones Jr and Tyson showed a lot of their pedigree in the ring, but this was definitely a deliberate and deliberate display. I had no problem with it; A year later the Holyfield debacle happened and it was scary.

Jones Jr is different from Tyson and Holyfield because he never took a long break, he just kept chasing his dream and that’s it to be Damaging a boxer’s legacy. Jones Jr. last won a true world title fight in 2003; He has fought 26 times since then and will be on the shortlist to fight Paul in the future. Jones Jr was part of Netflix’s streaming team on Friday (hey, no comment on the ringside circus) and we had a feeling Paul was enjoying some cash.

The crazy truth is that Jones Jr. Even at 55 and after 76 fights, he may be too lively for Paul.

And finally, on the recent list of shame is Brixton’s Danny Williams. Of course, Williams never won a world title, but he completed his last real goal by stopping Tyson in four rounds in 2004. At that time, Tyson was getting excited and another title was being talked about; Williams was a wild underdog, and it ended with Tyson sitting on the canvas and bleeding. This was supposed to be the end, but Tyson had one more fight and tapped out in 2005.

Williams lost his world title fight to Vitali Klitschko and then went on one of boxing’s wildest runs. Williams is now 51 and still struggling if the call comes from a strange place. He fought in 11 countries in the last 10 years; In 34 fights against Tyson that night in Louisville, Williams has been defeated only three times, and his record now stands at 89 fights and 33 defeats.

One of boxing’s lost stories. His life is at risk, his legacy forgotten forever. Tyson is an innocent man in that sense compared to Williams, but it would be nice to see them both quit completely. Please don’t hold your breath.