The playful showdown between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul on Monday in New York fueled speculation that their fight was fixed. Tyson and Paul quickly pushed back on that speculation, but another question lingers.
Are these guys too friendly to hold what Paul promises will be a “war”?
Paul, 27, calls Tyson “Uncle Mike.”
Tyson, 57, regards Paul as if he were a favorite nephew.
So when they step into the ring on July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will it be a slug fest or a hug fest?
“We all should have shown more affection from the beginning,” Hall of Fame boxer George Foreman told USA TODAY Sports via text message. “Once the bell rings, instincts come alive. »
USA TODAY Sports reached out to Foreman and two Hall of Fame boxers to better understand the impact of friendship between fighters — and whether it can hurt a fight.
How Anger Can Affect a Fighter
Two-time world lightweight champion Winky Wright said he fought a few boxers he considered friends.
“At press conferences I can laugh and joke, and after the fight I can laugh and joke,” said Wright, 52, who was inducted into the International Hall of Fame in 2018. “I didn’t no problem with that because it’s not combat.
“For me to be angry and mean, that’s not going to make me fight any better. When you box, you need to be able to think and focus on what you want to do.
But Wright suggested the friendship might have a different impact on Tyson, considering that Tyson, at his peak, fought the “killer instinct.” Indeed, Tyson said he literally wanted to kill his opponents.
Could Tyson fight this fiercely against Paul without having the killer instinct?
“It’s not a real fight,” Wright responded.
Texas sanctioned the fight as a professional bout, but Wright cites the fight’s rules — two-minute rounds instead of the standard three-minute rounds and 14-ounce gloves instead of the standard 10-ounce gloves — as the reasons call it an “exposure”. .”
“They’re going to go out there and throw good punches and try to hit each other,” Wright said. “But at the end of the day, remember, it’s Mike Tyson (at 58 on fight day)… I hope they have fun. I hope no one gets hurt. And that’s it. is like that.”
In the ring, it’s business
Three-time world champion and legendary flyweight fighter Mark Johnson has dismissed the idea that friendship can interfere with a fight.
“No, it really can’t ruin your intensity,” said Johnson, 52, who was inducted into the International Hall of Fame in 2012. “One thing about me is that even when I was doing the game or doing the weigh-in, ins, I didn’t make the grunts they do now, looking you in the eye until someone turns away It wasn’t any of that. To me, it was just business.
Something happened moments before a fight, according to Johnson.
“When I get in that ring, I’m going to try to knock your head off,” he said. “That’s what Mike Tyson says.
“So it doesn’t really make a difference if you come to the press conference or the friendly weigh-in. Once you get in the ring, when they sing that national anthem and say “home of the brave,” there’s just something about that. You’re excited.
Foreman wanted to kill Ali
To many, George Foreman is the former heavyweight champion who sold billions of George Foreman Grills. It’s Foreman 2.0.
Before a spiritual epiphany in 1977, Foreman was a menacing, brooding and intimidating heavyweight – and a perfect foil to Muhammad Ali. During the build-up to their historic “Rumble in the Jungle” fight in Zaire in 1974, Ali mocked and degraded Foreman, who later said he wanted to kill Ali in the ring.
Perhaps it was anger, not friendship, that derailed Foreman, who, instead of killing Ali, was knocked out in the eighth round.
The two men would later become close friends. And Foreman, 75 and a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame class of 2018, said another discovery awaited him.
“Later in life we find out they were all friends,” Foreman told USA TODAY Sports.
And, on July 20 in Texas, slugfest or hugfest?
“Be careful around Paul,” Foreman wrote. “Only because Paul has some stuff. Tyson gets punched at his age, we start hearing weird noises. Haha.”
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