Mike Tyson made an unlikely return to the boxing ring on Friday night against Jake Paul – and the heavyweight rankings have now been updated.
Former world champion Mike Tyson has been listed 309th in the BoxRec heavyweight rankings after his recent points defeat to influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul. Iron Mike, 58, failed to defy his age in his first professional fight since losing to Kevin McBride in 2005.
The marquee fight between Tyson and Paul was watched worldwide on Netflix. Yet, boxing icon Tyson struggled to compete with The Problem Child, given their 31 year age gap. While sidestepping a knockout loss, Tyson left Arlington, Texas with a points defeat but took the positives from his return to the ring.
Following the fight, Tyson took to social media and said: “This is one of those situations when you lost but still won. I’m grateful for last night. No regrets to get in ring one last time. I almost died in June. Had 8 blood transfusions. Lost half my blood and 25lbs in hospital and had to fight to get healthy to fight so I won. To have my children see me stand toe to toe and finish 8 rounds with a talented fighter half my age in front of a packed Dallas Cowboy stadium is an experience that no man has the right to ask for. Thank you.”
In the aftermath, Tyson entered 309th in the latest BoxRec heavyweight rankings, trailing an astonishing 183 places behind relative newcomer Paul. The legendary figure finds himself only marginally ahead of Terrell Jamal Woods, who has won one of his last 15 bouts and holds a 29-62 record. Even lesser-known pugilists, such as Peter ‘The Problem’ Naylor, rank significantly higher than Tyson.
In stark contrast, Paul has been propelled to 126th globally after his emphatic victory in Texas. Reflecting on the bout and whether he had gone easy on Tyson in the later rounds, Paul claimed: “Yeah, definitely, definitely a bit. I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want [to hurt him]. I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want to hurt somebody that didn’t need to be hurt.”
While the fight did not deliver the fireworks that many may have expected, some spectators were so underwhelmed they left the AT&T Stadium before the decision was announced. However, the fallout has been anything but subdued.
In light of his performance, Paul received a call-out from none other than undisputed light-heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev.
“@jakepaul what can you do in ring against the current undisputed champion? ” asked Beterbiev in an Instagram post. “Just know that I’m always open to any suggestions.”
On Saturday, it was revealed that over 60 million households tuned into the main event on Netflix, leading to several crashes of the streaming platform. Meanwhile, the fight’s gate exceeded $18m, doubling the previous Texas gate record for combat sports in both boxing and MMA, and surpassing Canelo Alvarez’s record of $9m.
