Mike Tyson threw his first hit at Jake Paul when the two faced-off before their blockbuster fight.
The former undisputed world heavyweight champion is returning to the ring for the first time in almost two decades. When approaching the stage for the final face off before the fight, Paul took it as an opportunity to have one last dig at his opponent.
The 27-year-old proceeded to crawl towards Tyson before jumping up to meet the gaze of the boxing legend and seemingly catching his opponent’s foot as he landed. Although Tyson had done well in the past to not react to the taunts and jibes from Paul, he had clearly reached his limit.
Tyson, known for his deadly knock out punches, slapped the Paul brother straight across the face. Although there was a clear impact, with the young boxer’s head jolting, Paul insisted he felt nothing.
“I didn’t even feel it, he’s angry,” said Paul after the slap. “He’s an angry little elf and he’s getting knocked the f*** out. I’m f***ing knocking him out. He hits like a b****. It’s personal now; he must die.”
Tyson kept his words short and sweet by simply saying: “It’s time.” The pair had taken to the scales prior to the on-stage scrap.
Tyson weighed in at 228.4lb, with Paul coming in a pound lighter at 227.2lb. The influencer has previously competed in the cruiserweight division, which means he has never weighed more than 200lb.
To get to this weight, Paul has stated: “[An average day for me] is probably around 3800-4000 calories but [I’ve been eating] the usual; eggs, toast, potatoes, steak, chicken, rice. I don’t really like vegetables. Then I’ll have a peanut and jelly [sandwich] at night – that s*** bangs.”
(Image: Getty Images)
(Image: AP)
Tyson had previously weighed up to 239lb during his career, with his last professional fight in 2000 seeing him weigh 233lb. Paul’s last fight was against bare-knuckle boxer Mike Perry who replaced the ill Tyson in July. He had collapsed following an inflamed ulcer on a flight, causing him to cough up blood. The fight got postponed to tomorrow morning UK time.
Despite this, Tyson believes his training has taught him some lessons: “That I’m tougher than I believe I was. When I agreed to this fight, I started training, I said, ‘What the f*** am I thinking?’ I finished the process, and now the fight’s the party. All the hard work is done.”
The pair will collide in the ring on Saturday morning in the UK, with the main event expected to get underway at 4am. The fight will exclusively stream live on Netflix for no extra charge.