The Mike Tyson Question

By: Sean Crose

Mike Tyson is no kid. In the minds of many, that doesn’t matter. He’s the great “Iron Mike” and that’s all there is to it. To these people – and they seem to be legion – it may as well be 1988. Tyson is an indestructible fighting machine, and he will delight millions of fans by crushing Jake Paul when the two men meet in the ring this summer. To some fans, it seems, there really is no debate. Give Tyson this, the legendary former heavyweight champion impressed people so profoundly in his amazing heyday that he’s still seen as the same fighter he was in the late Reagan era.

And, sure enough, he just may beat the brash young Paul, otherwise known as “The Problem Child,” when the two men meet up this summer at AT&T Stadium. He’s STILL Mike Tyson, after all, albeit an aging Mike Tyson. Video footage shows him going to town at the gym, zipping off menacing combinations while employing that always underrated Tyson defense. I wouldn’t want to have to fight the fifty-something version of Tyson. Neither would you. And neither, perhaps, will Paul, when he realizes just what a pure warrior Tyson is.

Still, time, as they say, waits for no one, not even Mike Tyson in the leadup to what will be his insanely lucrative fight with Paul this July. Someone online (I can’t remember who) brought up the fact that Tyson looked terrible in his last professional fight (a loss suffered at the gloved hands of the still obscure Kevin McBride). That fight went down almost 19 years ago – in 2005. And while Tyson seems to be in good physical and mental condition, it’s a lot to expect him to go back to the night he decimated the great Michael Spinks in about a minute and a half.

And let’s not forget about Paul. He’s nearly thirty years younger than Tyson. What’s more – and many people seem to overlook this – Paul takes boxing seriously. He doesn’t have vast experience, and yes, he’s suffered a single loss, but he’s improved as he’s gone along. Paul also has a thunderous right in his arsenal. In other words, those expecting him to get wiped out by Tyson – be it in a professional or exhibition format – may end up being sadly mistaken. Then again, if Tyson can land hard and well in the first few rounds…