Since the start, fight fans and casual sports fans alike have been skeptical of Netflix’s live fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul.
That skepticism only grew at weigh-ins on Thursday when Tyson smacked Paul in the face. Was Tyson cutting a promo? Was Paul just trying to milk the situation for social media attention?
Nobody can get inside the mind of either fighter, but longtime fight analyst and Netflix ring reporter Ariel Helwani believes the slap — and the hostility heading into the fight — are real.
“There’s been a lot of talk about who this version of Mike Tyson is, what we’re going to see tonight, what this is all about,” Helwani said Friday morning on The Dan Patrick Show. “That was 1990s version of Mike. He may be 58, but that demon, that beast, and when Jake (Paul) walked up to him like that and as we found out later, stepped on his toe, that guy comes back. He cannot control it. That was not scripted, that was not fake, that was not any of that.”
Immediately, Paul took to X to drum up hype around the slap, calling it a “pinch me” moment.
But back in the room at weigh-ins, Helwani interviewed Tyson. That interview told him all he needed to know about whether Tyson’s anger was genuine.
“I have never seen that look on a human being’s face before,” Helwani said. “That was terrifying stuff.”
Now, most fans questioning the authenticity of the fight probably believe it’s a stunt from Paul more than Tyson. Any 58-year-old choosing to box clearly knows the risk they are taking, and only a fool would question Tyson’s sincerity as a fighter. So Helwani standing by Tyson may not convince everyone that the Netflix event is legit on all sides.
Still, Helwani reminded the audience he has no reason to cape for Most Valuable Promotions or either fighter.
“This is 100 percent a real fight. I’m not a part of the promotion, I don’t work for the promoter,” Helwani said. “Mike Tyson doesn’t do fake. He doesn’t play fight.”
As Helwani told Patrick, the fight will likely become the most-watched combat event ever. Real or not, people are interested.
[The Dan Patrick Show on YouTube]
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.