Mike Tyson steps inside the ring on November 15, when he takes on Jake Paul in a boxing match at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. “The Baddest Man on the Planet” goes through the ropes as a pro for the first time in 19 and a half years. In his last to date fight in June 2005, the former undisputed heavyweight champion faced Kevin McBride.
Tyson and McBride squared off atop the Showtime PPV card live from MCI Center in Washington, D.C. The 38-year-old Brooklyn native was coming off the defeat by knockout in the fourth round against Danny Williams a year earlier. His 32-year-old opponent of Ireland was riding a seven-fight winning streak, which included the fifth-round TKO against Kevin Montiy in March the same year.
The scheduled for 10 rounds non-title bout ended after six rounds. At the beginning of the round, Tyson seemingly attempted to hurt his opponent’s left arm, and received a warning from referee Joe Cortez. Mid through the round, the latter suffered a cut over his left eye due to an intentional headbutt, for which “Iron Mike” was deducted two points. At the end of the round, McBride pushed Tyson down on the canvas.
Tyson got back on his feet and made it to his corner that called it a day prior to the start of the seventh round. After sixth round, Tyson was ahead on two out of three judges’ scorecards that read 57-55, 57-55, 55-57.
“I don’t think I have it anymore,” Mike Tyson told Jim Gray in his post-fight interview. “I got the ability to stay in shape, but I don’t got the fight in guts, I don’t think, anymore.”
“I don’t have any desire for this anymore. So, I basically don’t care much about the sport. I’m just… I’m sorry to disappoint the people. I wish they can get their money back.”
Nevertheless, almost two decades later, 58-year-old Mike Tyson (50-6, 2 NC, 44 KOs) is back in the ring in a sanctioned pro boxing fight. He is opposed by 27-year-old Ohio native Jake Paul (10-1, 7 KOs). The scheduled for eight by two-minute rounds matchup airs live on Netflix.