Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
I am concerned about the upcoming Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight. It’s happening on July 20 on Netflix. It would be a nightmare to see Tyson, our once great champion, a man who was synonymous with power, Blackness and boxing excellence, be knocked out by a white boy. And not just any white boy, but a loudmouth bro who’s trolling the boxing world by making himself the biggest heel and the biggest draw in the game. I don’t think Paul’s going to KO our brother, and even if he does, there will be an easy explanation.
There are only a few possible scenarios here. I look at this like trying to figure out the end of a movie before you go because, let’s be real, this is theater. It’s theater that pretends to be sport. It’s theater that pretends to be real, but it’s still theater in that there’s a script of some sort. So what script have they cooked up for us this time?
The least likely ending is that Paul knocks out Tyson. That would be highly unsatisfying because Paul would never be able to convince people that the fight was real. Everyone will assume it was fixed and with good reason. I’ve seen most of Paul’s fights and in every case, I’ve thought oh, the other guy let himself be knocked out. That was part of the deal. It took me a minute to realize Paul was doing boxing theater but I caught on.
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I do not believe that Tyson would agree to a script where he is knocked out. I think his pride is too great for that. Paul needs this fight, Tyson does not. So why would Tyson agree to lose? But if it happens, we’ll never believe it’s real and it won’t make Paul look good. It won’t make Tyson look that bad because we’ll say, OK, that was some WWE-type combat theater-ish, and he’s very old. There’s no way Paul could believably KO Tyson in a fair one. That’s ridiculous.
Medium likely is that they have a multiround fight where Paul appears to prove that he can stand toe to toe with Tyson. But that won’t really prove anything. Tyson is a legend but he’s also almost 60. When Tyson was in his prime he absolutely destroyed massive men, skilled professional fighters, in seconds. A Tyson fight was like a scene out of an animated movie — he kind of walked right up to people and punched them harder than they’d ever been punched, and they fell to the canvas as though their souls had exited their bodies. Tyson’s fights usually seemed like they were unfair, like no man should have to grapple with him.
If the story is “Paul withstands Tyson’s onslaught for several rounds and no one goes down,” it will show us that Tyson ain’t really himself anymore. He’s old. Of course, he ain’t got it like that anymore. In that scenario, Tyson doesn’t lose anything and Paul doesn’t really gain. It’s unsatisfying to have no knockdowns.
For me, most likely is that Tyson knocks him out. That’s the most satisfying and believable ending. Maybe it happens in round two or three. Honestly, that’s the ending that would most improve Paul’s image. There’s no shame in losing to Tyson at any age, and good on him for having the courage to go in there with an absolute killer and stomach getting beaten up by Tyson. Losing to Tyson would be the best possible loss. It doesn’t look bad to lose to Tyson even if he’s old. And it makes the charade look realistic.
Do I think this is really a fair, straight-up fight? No. Do I think there are some secret contract or backroom provisions that will ensure the audience gets a good fight? Yes. I suspect that this is a boxing version of the Harlem Globetrotters and the Washington Generals where the outcome is preordained as if it’s all a play. But for Tyson to enter into that agreement, he’s gotta win. It’s the only scenario that he would accept and the only one that anyone would believe.
Paul has been delivering entertainment that looks like real boxing in the same way that Fox News delivers entertainment that looks like real news. He’s such an incredible showman and such a pitch-perfect villain that even though he is not a great fighter, and he chooses to square off against carefully chosen guys who won’t embarrass him, he is, right now, the biggest name in boxing. More people will watch this fight than any other this year. That’s pathetic and also indicative of Paul’s marketing genius and indicative of the sad state of boxing. I will be sitting in front of my computer watching this fight from moment one to the bitter end. I can’t be certain there will be another big fight that I’ll want to watch this year.
The saga of Jake Paul is about a man who seems to have wandered into this dangerous sport and turned himself into someone most people want to see get knocked out so we can watch his eyes roll up into his brain and his legs crumble as if they had suddenly become jelly. We want to see that white boy be put to sleep for a second.
The saga of Tyson is a boy from the bottom who became the most ferocious heavyweight of all time. He lived a long, wild life that has taken him from admired to villain to redeemed and eventually to beloved.
When these two sagas collide, I need Tyson to win. I know it’s a play, but still. Tyson must win.
Touré is a host and Creative Director at theGrio. He is the host of Masters of the Game on theGrioTV. He is also the host and creator of the docuseries podcast “Being Black: The ’80s” and the animated show “Star Stories with Toure” which you can find at TheGrio.com/starstories. He is also the host of the podcast “Toure Show” and the podcast docuseries “Who Was Prince?” He is the author of eight books including the Prince biography Nothing Compares 2 U and the ebook The Ivy League Counterfeiter.
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