The Grand Illusion

The much hyped Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul fight proved to be a spectacle for suckers.

The money figures are astonishing. AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, has a capacity of 80,000 people and it was a packed house with VIP packages with ringside seats ranging from $5,000 to $25,000. There was also the MVP Owner's Experience, that was valued at $2 million.

Approximately 120 million viewers watched the Netflix live stream (including yours truly). Jake Paul took home around $40 million and Tyson around $20 million for their participation in what must be the biggest spectacle for suckers in the history of sport.

I have a very tender spot for Mike Tyson, a hero of my youth, so I don’t want to pick on him too much for his decision to participate in this. However, if I am to be completely honest, I must acknowledge that he proved to be far more aged and frail than he appeared to be in training videos. While he has retained much of his heavily muscled upper body, once he stepped in the ring, it became apparent he had lost most of his leg strength, which is the true source of endurance, speed, and power in boxing. There were moments when I even wondered if he has suffered an injury that caused nerve damage in his spine, because his leg movements appeared impaired, not just those of an older and slower man.

Indeed, though I really hate to write this, it seems to me that the spectacle may have crossed the line into fraudulent advertising. Jake Paul, who is 30 years younger, could have seriously injured or even killed Tyson if he had launched a full and sustained attack. I strongly suspect that he judiciously held back from doing this. A full knockout blow to Mike’s chin would have posed grave danger to his 58-year-old brain, which becomes vulnerable as the meninges diminish with age.

After the fight, Jake Paul’s tongue awkwardly slipped when he said something like, “Yeah, I really wanted to hurt him a little.” Per standard boxing parlance, this is an unprecedented utterance.

Last but not least was the spectacle’s pitiful commentary provided by a remarkable parcel of garish knuckleheads.

Altogether, the event reminded me of the lore of the Roman Emperor Commodus, who purportedly enjoyed pretending to fight in gladiatorial contests that were staged to allow him to win. Commodus did not inherit the exceptional wisdom and prudence of his father (Marcus Aurelius) and many historians have suggested that the decline of the Roman Empire began with his silly and irresponsible reign.