Mike Tyson was a two-time world champion as a fighter but his age of 58 showed against Jake Paul as he looked sluggish – especially towards the end of the eight-round contest – and Joe Rogan wasn’t impressed
Image: Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Joe Rogan delivered a crushing verdict of Mike Tyson’s unanimous points defeat to Jake Paul on Friday night, simply saying: “Magic isn’t real”.
Tyson was beaten by his YouTuber rival in Texas following a hugely controversial build-up to their showdown, which was aired live on Netflix, with the younger man comfortable cruising to victory.
Iron Mike was a two-time world champion as a fighter but his age of 58 showed on the night as he looked sluggish – especially towards the end of the eight-round contest – as Paul appeared to pull his punches and refrain from KOing the heavyweight legend.
The bout had gained a huge amount of criticism after onlookers feared for Tyson’s health due to his age against a younger, fitter fighter while others called it a cash grab – with boxing figures like Eddie Hearn insisting it was “sad” to see an iconic boxer get back in the ring.
Podcaster Rogan was one of the skeptics of the fight and admitted his doubts over whether he felt the spectacle would match the hype before it began.
He wrote on Twitter : “I’m getting ready to watch this Tyson vs Jake Paul fight like I’m watching someone cast a spell that I hope actually works. And I don’t really believe in magic. But I want to believe.”
However, after Paul eased to victory in an underwhelming contest, Rogan replied to his own post, saying: “Magic isn’t real.”
Image:
Getty Images for Netflix © 2024)
When asked if he took his foot off the gas towards the end of the fight, Paul responded: “Yeah definitely. Definitely a bit. I wanted to give the fans a show but I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt.”
But despite looking worse for wear in the fight as he approaches his 60s, Tyson opened the door to even more fights and said he was not done in the sport just yet.
“I don’t think so,” he said when asked if he thought the Paul bout would be the last fight of his career. “It depends on the situation.”
He then speculated that he could face Logan Paul next, adding: “I don’t think so, I don’t know, maybe I’ll fight his brother,” to which Logan said: “I’d kill you Mike”.