Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul is the freak show we wish we could ignore but can’t

OPINION: While hoping Tyson knocks Paul’s block off — admittedly an unsavory desire — I fear for the 58-year-old’s safety against a hard-hitting man half his age.
Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
YouTube sensation Jake Paul vows to knock Mike Tyson out. Such bravado is typical at media events to hype a boxing match, often followed by the fighters standing inches apart and glaring before one shoves the other or throws a punch. Tyson and Paul pushed and jabbed playfully Sunday after promoting their November bout, previously scheduled for July but postponed when Tyson suffered an ulcer flareup. The former heavyweight champion says he’s fully recovered and resumed training a few weeks ago. “It’s happening,” he said at the press conference in New York. “I’m ready.” 
Paul promised to give Tyson “his end in boxing” and “discipline you like a son,” calling him an “old-ass motherf—-r.” 
Which brings us to the actual problem: This officially sanctioned match could be tantamount to elder abuse before it ends.
Tyson is 58 years old and his last official fight was in 2005, when he didn’t answer the bell for the seventh round and lost by TKO against a nondescript boxer. “Iron Mike” has rusted since, enjoying retirement except for an exhibition in 2020. He fought to a draw against legendary Roy Jones Jr. – 51 at the time – in a fairly entertaining match that wasn’t serious yet held interest.  
Tyson vs. Paul screams to be labeled “exhibition.” 
It has the creepy vibes of a carnival show that displays unusual humans doing extraordinary things. But this’ll be for real, not for show, with the outcome on each fighter’s permanent career record. We’ll gawk at 27-year-old Paul, with brutal knockout power, going against a man twice his age, albeit the former baddest man on the planet. The combatants will exert maximum effort and inflict damage, throwing “punches with bad intentions,” as Tyson would say, while reigning as the undisputed heavyweight champ (1987-1990). 
Whether his body is up to the task, Tyson’s mindset remains steadfast. He was always straight to the point at his best, intent to drive his opponents’ noses into their brains. “I’m gonna f—k you up,” he told Paul on Sunday, suggesting his night will go “very painfully.”
Deron Snyder
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Deron Snyder
That risk is part of the fight game, graphically illustrated in mixed martial arts and well understood in boxing. We’ve seen Tyson on the receiving end – notably crawling with a swollen eye while feeling for his mouthpiece against Buster Douglas 34 years ago. Paul wasn’t born yet but he’s grown into a man capable of putting foes on their ass when his blows land. If he goes upside Tyson’s head just right or often enough, it won’t matter if Mike were 48, 38 or 28. Being 58 would make the scene uglier.
Paul rose to fame and fortune — with 20 million YouTube subscribers and claims of bagging $40 million for this fight — on privileged wings via social media, mostly against ex-MMA fighters and fellow influencers. With a 10-1 record, he’s trying to skip ahead of dues-paying boxers for a title shot. This is big-game hunting for Paul, who wants Tyson’s head on the wall. Rooting against the YouTuber is easy but he can’t be taken lightly. 
Fans and media might think Paul’s a joke but Tyson sees a fighter, by definition a threat. “This is what I’ve learned through my 58 year of experience,” he said Tuesday on the ImPaulsive podcast. “Anyone is capable of killing you. In my life and the way I’ve lived my life … you should be apprehensive of everyone.”
Hopefully, no one dies. Seriously.
The gloves will be 14 ounces, bigger than normal, and rounds will be shortened from three minutes to two minutes. The special rules could help Tyson, who can worry less about stamina and conserving energy over the scheduled eight rounds. Instead, he can try to recapture the rapid flurries and furious combos that made him the youngest-ever heavyweight champ in 1986. Judging by clips of a workout, just like his appearance in “The Hangover,” Mike’s still got it.
But looking good against a heavily padded trainer isn’t squaring up against a 200-pound slugger. I’ll be pleased if Paul’s face smacks the canvas but this should-be-an-exhibition can turn for the worse in a flash.
“I don’t want the last thing I remember of Tyson is him getting knocked out by a YouTuber,” former heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder told Sportsbook Review. “People can get hit in the wrong place and at the wrong time. There’s lots of examples where guys have been hit into a coma. He’s too old for this. At the end of the day, no one gives a f–k about Mike.”
Especially not the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations, which sanctioned the match as a fully professional fight. It’s gonna be a freak show that’s hard to ignore.
Deron Snyder, from Brooklyn, is an award-winning columnist who lives near D.C. and pledged Alpha at HU-You Know! He’s reaching high, lying low, moving on, pushing off, keeping up, and throwing down. Got it? Get more at blackdoorventures.com/deron.
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