Mike Tyson’s coach has broken his silence on the former undisputed champion’s less-than-stellar showing against Jake Paul at AT&T Stadium on Friday night.
Tyson and Paul’s matchup was highly-anticipated, with many fans hoping to see a glimpse of what made the 58-year-old one of the best boxers of all time. Instead, the crowd on hand and the fans watching on Netflix were treated to a fight that truly showed “Father Time” had not only caught up to Tyson, but completely outpaced him.
Still, Rafael Cordeiro believed the former champion could have won the bout. Additionally, Cordeiro explained how Tyson still had the fighter’s spirit, despite being 58-years-old and seemingly being outclassed by Paul, who was 30 years his junior.
“We worked for seven months for this moment,” Cordeiro said, per SportBible. “I truly believed we had this victory before the fight. He never asked to give up. [Mike Tyson’s] the people’s champ. He’s inspired many people outside of the ring. The most important thing [is] that Mike is going back home to his loved ones.”
And it was clear after the first round that Paul and Tyson’s fight would not go the way fans would have expected it to. Throughout the fight, Paul seemingly pulled his punches, in fear of doing damage if his shots were to land in a specific way.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer made that point clear when he spoke to reporters after the fight. “Yeah, definitely. Definitely a bit,” he said after his win. “I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt.”
Mike Tyson quickly ran out of stamina against Jake Paul in what was meant to be an interesting fight (
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Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for Netflix © 2024)
Despite how the fight turned out, Tyson revealed he would consider a return to the ring again, though it is dependent on the situation. “I don’t know. It depends on the situation,” Tyson said after the fight, according to The Herald. “I don’t think so.”
In the end, Tyson claimed he was happy with how he performed, even though it ended in a loss. “I knew [Paul] was a good fighter,” he added. “I didn’t prove nothing to anyone, just myself. I’m not one of these guys who goes out to please the world, I’m just happy with what I can do.”
For Paul’s part, he shared with reporters that he wanted to give fans a memorable fight but in the end, he did what he could based on how Tyson performed. “I tried to give the best fight I possibly could, but when someone’s just surviving in the ring, basically it’s hard to make it exciting,” Paul said.
“So I couldn’t really get him to engage me or slip shots and do something super cool or whatever, but I don’t care about what people have to say. They’re always going to have something to say and that it is what it is.”
With Tyson’s legacy in the sport cemented, it stands to reason that fans might have seen the 58-year-old in the ring for the last time. Meanwhile Paul is looking to continue making his name in the sport, looking to fight whoever is willing to step in the ring.
“So if people want to see more or this challenge or fight this person, whatever it is, my response to them is just give him a couple more months,” he added. “I’m going to accomplish more things in just a matter of months and I plan on doing everything in this sport that there is to be done.”
