Sport

Mike Tyson slaps Jake Paul as tempers flare in fiery face-off ahead of Netflix fight in Texas

Mike Tyson slaps Jake Paul as tempers flare in fiery face-off ahead of Netflix fight in Texas
Mike Tyson slaps Jake Paul on eve of seismic boxing match
The Independent

Mike Tyson slapped Jake Paul in a fiery and controversial face-off after the weigh-in ahead of their fight in Texas.

Ahead of the fight on November 16 at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, in the first event of its kind to be live-streamed on Netflix, tempers finally fully flared as Tyson could not hold himself back from reacting to Paul's antics.

As the pair prepared to face-off, Paul crawled his way up to Tyson before standing up in front of his face seemingly in an effort to intimidate him.

But Tyson it seems is done with Paul's shenanigans and Tyson was held back by security after landing a slap to Paul's face.

"Talking's over," he then said to host Ariel Helwani before walking off.

Paul said: "I didn't even feel it. He's angry. He's an angry little elf. Mike Tyson, I thought that was a cute slap buddy but tomorrow night I'm knocking you the f*** out. I'm f***ing him up Ariel, I'm f***ing him up!

“He hits like a b***h, it's personal now, it's personal now, he must die!"

Before the incident, Tyson was cheered and Paul was jeered during the weigh-in, which saw Paul come in at 227.2lb with Tyson in at 228.4lb.

Mike Tyson slaps Jake Paul as they face off during their ceremonial weigh-in at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory on November 14, 2024 in Irving, TexasThe moment Mike Tyson slapped Jake Paul during the weigh-in ahead of their fight / Christian Petersen, Getty Images

The event itself will begin at 1am GMT on November 16, and at 5pm PT and 8pm ET on November 15; the ringwalk for Tyson v Paul is expected to start three hours after that.

The boxing match was due to take place in July but had to be postponed after Tyson sustained an ulcer flare-up which meant he could not fight.

The bout got rescheduled to November 16 and ever since the fight was announced back in March, opinions have been flying around as to how the fight will go.

During his professional career from 1985-2005, Tyson ended with a record of 50-6, including 44 knockouts.

Paul's current record since he started in 2018 is 10-1 and his one loss was in 2023 against Tommy Fury, brother of Tyson Fury, by split decision.

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