Mike Tyson – Jake Paul Moved to November 15th

By: Sean Crose

It appears the show will still go on. After the July novelty bout between former heavyweight legend Mike Tyson and the brash Jake Paul was postponed due to an in-flight incident involving an inflamed ulcer Tyson was suffering from, a new date has been set. “New date, same place, same fate,” Paul posted on social media Friday morning. The two men are now scheduled to meet November 15th at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. As a surprise to many, the highly anticipated event will not appear on Pay Per View. Rather, the card will be aired live on Netflix.

While it’s unquestionably going to be a lucrative and wildly popular affair, there is concern that the fight will ultimately be seen as a bridge too far for the sport of boxing. Tyson, after all, will be 58 years of age when he steps into the ring next autumn in Texas. What’s more, it will have been nearly 20 years since the man last fought professionally. On top of that, Tyson was far from his former self in his last professional fight (a 2005 loss to Kevin McBride). One can only imaging the version of Tyson that might show up in November through no fault of his own, but simply due to the passing of time.

Tyson, however, is one of those figures people see exclusively through the prism of their memories (Michael Jordan also occupies that rarified air) Tyson was frightening, enormously dominant and extremely skilled in the late 1980s…and people unquestionably continue to see him that way today. The same likely goes for younger people, who have been presented with an image of Tyson from the past, one which presents the Brooklynite as an unstoppable force. Tyson certainly came across as an unstoppable force in his heyday. He was that good. But Reagan was still in the White House.

While none of this means Tyson will lose to Paul, it does present an interesting question: How much is too much? While Tyson may lay Paul out (power is the last thing to go on a fighter) those old legs will start feeling a lot older if the far younger Paul lasts more than two or three rounds. And then what? A decision win? A decision loss? A knockout loss? Anything is likely at that point, which isn’t what a lot of viewers will be hoping for. They want the Tyson of old. Maybe they’ll actually get him, or a version close to that young warrior. Boxing is a strange sport, after all.

It’s also a very dangerous one. Which is why it’s good to view this with some objectivity.