Thirty years ago the scene would have been familiar: Mike Tyson on a dais, addressing a packed room before a big fight. A lot has changed since then, since Tyson was the undisputed heavyweight champ, snarling through interviews and cartoonishly knocking out overmatched opponents. Yet inside the Apollo Theatre, where fans lined the Harlem streets for hours to cram into a press conference last May to promote Tyson’s upcoming fight against Jake Paul, one thing was clear: Tyson can still draw a crowd.
But for what, exactly? Tyson-Paul, which will pit the 58-year-old Tyson, who hasn’t fought in an official match in 19 years, against Paul, 27, a YouTuber-turned-boxer who has fattened his résumé flattening ex-MMA fighters, is something of a mystery. It is a sanctioned fight, meaning the result will go on each fighter’s record. It isn’t a typical one; Tyson-Paul will be contested over eight rounds each lasting two minutes (instead of the traditional three) with both fighters wearing 14-ounce gloves (instead of the more puncher-friendly 10). Tyson called the decision to make the fight a “no-brainer” and “something I want to do.”
