Mike Tyson has explained why he bit down on his gloves during a disappointing defeat by Jake Paul, while he has also confirmed that he carried an injury into the fight.
‘Iron Mike’ could be seen biting his gloves several times during the course of Friday night’s drab main event in Texas, which saw one of boxing’s all-time heavyweight greats, 58, beaten easily on points by an opponent 31 years his junior in a first professional outing for almost two full decades.
Commentators speculated at the time if Tyson may have an issue with his mouth guard, while others said it was something they had noticed in his fights in years gone by.
Tyson confirmed in his post-fight interview with Ariel Helwani that it was indeed nothing new, saying: “I have a habit of biting my gloves when I fight, yeah.”
Tyson then had a joking response when asked why he did it, playfully alluding to the infamous 1997 incident in Las Vegas when he courted enormous controversy and temporarily lost his boxing license after biting off part of rival Evander Holyfield’s ear during a rematch for the WBA heavyweight title.
“I have a biting fixation,” Tyson joked, with Holyfield among the litany of boxing stars past and present in attendance at Dallas’ AT&T Stadium on Friday.
Already considerable concerns over a 58-year-old Tyson’s ability to keep up with a far younger fighter were quickly magnified when he embarked on his pre-fight ring walk in Dallas with a brace on his right knee.
Tyson confirmed afterwards that he had been injured heading into the fight with Paul, but refused to blame the issue for his comprehensive defeat.
“Yeah, but I can't use that as an excuse,” he said of his knee problem. “If I did, I wouldn't be in here.”
