We may have reached the point where there are pretty much no limits when it comes to the hyping and the selling of a fight. From “acting” out and out crazy (see Ryan Garcia’s wild run-up to his fight with Devin Haney, with Garcia doing and saying all manner of things, he says now as part of a plan designed to sell the fight), to declaring how “one of us must die” in a fight.
This crass statement is the work of Jake Paul, ahead of his fight with a man who is close to 60 years of age, this of course being Mike Tyson. Paul must really be a tough guy, with him saying “I have to end him.” Of course, Paul would not have uttered anything along these lines had he been set to face the prime Mike Tyson, a fighting sensation who would have ruined Paul inside 30-seconds.
Paul will face Tyson in July as we know, and the fight has been sanctioned as a real fight. And plenty of people are openly worried and concerned for the well-being of Tyson, who will be 58 years of age come fight night; that and he has indulged in a marijuana habit for years, with Tyson also suffering fro sciatica that can be so bad it can leave him wheelchair-bound for a while. Maybe it’s little wonder Paul is talking so tough.
“It’s an honor to be in the ring with him, but I have to end him, it’s war….All is fair in love and war,” Paul said in a recent episode of his podcast. “I love the guy, but as soon as it turned into a pro fight, one of us has to die….He’s a legend. I love the guy. But at the end of the day, it’s war and sometimes you have to go to war and put it all on the line.”
It has of course been asked, why doesn’t Paul call for real fights against active pros around the same age as himself? If he really wants to do great things in the sport, Paul should ditch the novelty fights. Paul should also stop with the thinly veiled death threats. The July 20 fight is alarming enough to some people as it is, and Paul’s disgusting words will only cast more of a shadow over the sport. That said, there really do seem to be no limits any longer, and plenty of people enjoy the sick side of what passes for the promotion of a fight these days. Whether it’s brawling at pressers or throwing chairs, whether it’s one fighter spitting in the face of his opponent or it’s fighters putting out disturbing videos that claim they have been killed, or whether it’s pre-fight death threats……. it all goes on these days and nothing is said.
What happens if, God forbid, 58 year old Tyson gets badly and seriously hurt in the Paul fight? How much further down the sewer will our once truly great and honourable sport have gone in the opinion of many? The Paul-Tyson fight is already an assured smash at the box-office, with tickets being priced incredibly high and selling. There was just no need for Paul to say what he said.
Shame on him. And shame on the new trend of fight promotion that is out there. Is boxing still The Noble Art, the way it once was? It seems not.