The marquee fight between “Iron” Mike Tyson and Jake Paul is finally happening, and some of the fireworks have popped off during their weigh in when Tyson slapped Paul as they stood face to face with each other. After the slap, Paul warned Tyson that he would “kill him” in their fight, and people lapped up all the theater on social media. Whether they believed all this was just promo to sell tickets or the 58-year-old seriously trying to gain a psychological edge over his 28-year-old opponent, they made their reactions known nonetheless.
Check out the replay of the slap in this clip shared by ClutchPoints on X, formerly Twitter.
Reactions to Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul
A good number of the reactions to Mike Tyson’s extracurricular activities with Jake Paul before their fight called attention to boxing’s similarities to professional wrestling.
For instance, TV host Kazeem Famuyide called the weigh in events the “Big go home angle,” referring to an episode of a weekly wrestling show like Raw or Smackdown right before a major pay-per-view.
These episodes always ended with a big explosive moment between the stars of its hottest feud, setting up the PPV match and giving it a big-fight feel.
True enough, Tyson slapping Paul at the weigh in built suspense for the fight, much like the heels beating up the faces before the pay-per-view. Likewise, Tyson has joined wrestling feuds before, such as his involvement with the Shawn Michaels vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin angle that ended in Wrestlemania 14.
Moreover, Jake Paul is the brother of former WWE United States Champion Logan Paul. So, both fighters know the importance of theatrics in selling the stakes of a big-time match, since quite a number of people believe this fight is unserious, including Oscar de la Hoya.
The user @DNCDigital also likened the slap to the “Smackdown ending before Survivor Series 01.”
Anyway, here’s @Duke_of_Ice_Age posting a close-up photo of the actual moment of contact between Mike’s hand and Jake’s face.
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Meanwhile, @stacks_sats posted another replay of the altercation and shared what the YouTuber-turned-boxer told the “baddest man on the planet” after the slap heard around the world.
Per the post, Paul said, “I didn’t even feel it… Mike Tyson, I thought that was a cute slap buddy, but tomorrow you’re getting knocked the f**k out. I’m f**king him up. He hits like a b***h. It’s personal now. He must die.”
A serious fight?
Still, the theatrics aside, it’s hard to overlook the fact that “Iron” Mike is almost 60 years old fighting a 28-year-old pro boxer who has, according to fans, built a career out of fighting non-boxers, over-the-hill champions, and never-was boxers.
Besides the actual fight, perhaps it’s also time to wonder what long-term effects matches like this will have on the sport of boxing, which has largely lost its popularity in recent decades.