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Paul vs Tyson: Redefining Winning

Writer's picture: CCA Pulse MagazineCCA Pulse Magazine

When Jake Paul and Mike Tyson fought in their recent boxing match, Jake Paul won by unanimous decision after eight two-minute rounds. Paul won on the business side of things as well, earning $40 million while Mike Tyson earned $20 million. Tyson was also humbled and all of his longtime supporters were saddened to see “Iron Mike’s” diminished glory. To know who genuinely won, we need to understand the histories and complexities of boxing as well as Paul and Tyson’s respective careers.


To understand the impressive success of Mike Tyson’s career, one must understand his fierceness. There are only three ways a boxer wins a professional match: by referee decision at the conclusion, by technical knockout (referee or medical staff decision to end the match), or by knockout - when an opponent is knocked to the mat and unable to get up after 10 seconds. Mike Tyson has a knockout rate above the average professional boxers in their career and has only been knocked out 5 times. With all of this power, Tyson was the youngest heavyweight champion in the world, winning his first title at age 20.  He quickly achieved a 22-0 record with 21 knockouts. In 1987, he became the first heavyweight to hold all three major boxing belts. He unexpectedly lost all three belts in 1990 to Buster Douglass in Tokyo. Tyson went on to have varying degrees of success and ended his career with 50 wins and only 7 losses, 44 by knockout.

Tyson’s known savagery in the ring is credited to being raised in the highly violent Brooklyn neighborhood of Brownsville after his dad left his family. Before joining a gang at 11, he was bullied for his meek nature and trained his fighting style to ward off other kids. By 13 years old, he was arrested more than 30 times. Tyson has experienced much loss in his life in the buildup to his career including the death of his mother, Lorna Smith, and his personal trainer, Cus D’amato. Kicked out of many schools for violent behavior, many critics believe Tyson’s fighting saved his life in many ways. However, his career was also tarnished by bad behavior, such as a rape conviction in 1992 and a disqualification in 1996 for biting off the ear of Evander Holyfield, a long-time opponent who had defeated Tyson previously. In 1997, his boxing license was revoked, and he only fought a few more matches over many years before ultimately retiring.

Many people, on the other hand, may know the history of Jake Paul considering he grew up in the public eye. His first claim to fame was his YouTube account where he gained followers making gag videos. Paul’s other claims to fame are his acting career in Disney, his online rap music, and his multiple business ventures including apps such as Betr. His amateur boxing career only started in 2018 when another influencer KSI challenged him to a fight. He found passion in boxing, trained hard, and has since gone 11-1 with 7 knockouts. Although he has not been taken seriously as a boxer, he is a businessman at heart who tries to make events out of his matches. Despite coming from vastly different worlds, Paul has said he is the “new Mike Tyson”, although no one is sure if Paul is serious about that claim.


While many had high expectations of seeing the fierce Tyson in action, the outcome of the fight was not surprising to the 60 million homes who streamed the match on Netflix. At 58, Tyson looked old and clearly past his prime, while Paul at 27 was young and fit. This sorrowed nostalgia of Tyson isn't unfamiliar to many current sports fans when the game changes as players retire. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have moved to lower leagues while Lebron James is due to retire in the near future. Tiger Woods can only golf select matches and Tom Brady retired permanently in 2023. Sports fans debate whether sports can maintain their integrity when their stars are no longer in peak performance. The answer is that great players will always come and go. Our current greats succeeded the originals and we forget who came first to change the competition of sports we love. Muhammad Ali, Diego Maradona, Pelé, Michael Jordan, Arnold Palmer, and Joe Montana were all undeniably talented athletes whose retirements caused the same anxiety we have today about the history of sports. What we can learn from the progression of sports is that greatness is not limited to an individual; it is a manifestation of culture and drive that will only grow as time continues. The only way to encourage the continuous flow of talent within the sporting world is to maintain our kindness and open-mindedness to all new players. We are now thankful to have rising stars such as Lamine Yamal, Sha’Carri Richardson, Leon Marchand, Victor Webenyama, Coco Gauff, and Jayden Daniels as up-and-coming talents to further sports and continue the legacy of greatness.


Mike Tyson gracefully ended his career with a thoughtful message on X: “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.” With his retirement solidified, we can only wonder if Jake Paul or someone else will carry on the legacy. As the year ends, sports have not disappointed us in terms of talent, passion, culture, and entertainment. With the new year upon us, we must refocus our values as a society to continue to produce the talent we are capable of cultivating not only in sports, but in all aspects of business, service, art, and media. Tyson’s loss to Paul does not erode the greatness of “Iron Mike” Tyson. Jake Paul is the future of entertainment boxing but Mike Tyson’s legacy will live on in its own glory of traditional boxing.

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