by Joe Hughes

BOXING becomes a circus on November 15 when 58-year-old Mike Tyson and 27-year-old Jake Paul square off.

Tyson, one of the most iconic fighters of all time, is expected by some to destroy Paul with relative ease. It may not be as easy as that, however. Tyson’s last professional fight was almost 20 years ago against Kevin McBride and was a sad sight to see. The once unstoppable Tyson slumped on the bottom rope in defeat was an image that really summed up where Tyson was at that point. His performance was very poor, he pretty much stopped trying and admitted afterwards he didn’t want to be in there anymore. Again, that was nearly 20 years ago.

His life, as it always has been, continued to be the proverbial roller-coaster. He put weight on, lost weight, performed a live stage show, lost a child, got married for a third time and became a marijuana farmer to name a few things. He most recently got in the ring against fellow boxing legend Roy Jones Jr, a match that if it had happened after Jones beat John Ruiz for the WBA Heavyweight title in 2003 would have been huge, in an exhibition bout in 2020. Tyson looked better against Jones than he did against McBride but considering the nature of the exhibition it’s hard to tell what sort of level he’s at.

Paul is a YouTuber/entertainer turned boxer and it’s hard to deny he’s worked very hard and done very well to get to the standard he is now at in the relatively short time he’s been boxing. He’s very wealthy and there are certainly easier ways to earn money than professional boxing, even if you are trying to pick matches that are going to gain the most attention with the least genuine risk possible. You have to respect him for still wanting to do it.

It seems after his loss to Tommy Fury he may have cleverly realised he has very little chance of getting to the level in the sport he talks as if he is at. He is looking for the shock value fights against the likes of Mike Tyson while telling people he can beat Canelo. He’s marketed himself very well and there are talks this could be one of the most watched live fights of all time with Netflix entering the sport for the first time and broadcasting the event live.

It’s a shame its happening but professional boxing has always been an entertainment business rather than a pure sport and this is just another example of it.

FIRST CHAMPION

Last weekend the club I coach at Paddy John’s ABC had our first National champion of the season with our 18-year-old heavyweight Archie Liddell winning the Youth National title. I’m trying to get him sponsored by Jaffa Cakes but no luck so far!

Joe Hughes (Getty Images)