Who knew that two men trying to out-punch, out-fight, and out-conscious each other could lead to so many deeper thoughts about life itself, but here we are.
Nearly two weeks ago (not that long ago for me, but we work ahead here) former undisputed heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, 58, fought Jake Paul, 27, described by The Google as an “American professional boxer and YouTuber”.
Long story short, Tyson lost in eight rounds. More on that as we go on.
For better or not, I was looking forward to the fight for a while.
This is one of the most corniest things I have ever written and loathe myself for it, but the experience of watching the bout gave me way more than I had expected or hoped for.
The following are some things I was thinking about before, during, the after the fight.
It’s not 1988 anymore
Why on Earth was I looking forward to such a spectacle?
When I was young, Mike Tyson was probably the first boxer I was ever made aware of.
His very name was a big deal. Everyone knew he was “the man” in a sport that has been losing its prominence and popularity.
I knew it, and everyone else in 2024 knew that Tyson was way past his prime.
Yet, there was this part of me that wanted to experience what sports fans and others older than me got to experience seeing a Tyson fight or any large boxing event, typically on pay-per-view.
Past his prime or not, this was finally my time. Five-year-old Kevin was finally getting his chance to see a Mike Tyson fight at age 41 (me, not “Iron Mike”).
Did it meet all the hype and replicate the experience? Of course not, those days are gone. On to the next topic.
A battle of generations
In both the Tyson/Paul fight and some of the undercard bouts, words like “YouTube,” “influencer,” “content creator,” and “social media” were mentioned a lot.
To an old-time boxing fan, these words in the context of the squared circle are of a confused meaning.
Mr. Tyson and Mr. Paul were a battle of different times and different philosophies.
Whether 100 percent accurate or not, Tyson evokes old images of training hard, focusing on winning, and becoming champion (leave the ear out of this).
Paul is a modern-day fighter and celebrity, focusing on his brand, his followers, his likes, his shares, and so on.
This is a very simplistic way of looking at it, but it is what brought so many to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and Netflix to view the fight.
Many wanted to see the old man beat the young guy.
Not this night. It’s a different time.
Professional athletes are and can focus on more than just athletics.
Needs versus wants
About two hours into the program on Netflix, the streaming service began experiencing technical issues.
Social media comments were spewed by the hundreds about subscribers’ inability to watch the next fight on the card (a woman’s title fight) and probably not being able to see the main event.
I spent most of my evening restarting the app and my streaming device and checking for updates.
I ended up staying up later than I thought I would and spending most of my night’s focus on trying to see the fight.
I ended up “airplaining” my phone for the night to avoid spoilers and didn’t get to watch the fight until the following morning.
Was all of that time and energy worth it for something so fleeting and trivial? No. Should I let things like this hype me up and take up so much time and energy in the future? No. Will I? Yes.
Is boxing humane?
I’ve always been a fan of classic boxing. My DVD collection has lots of fights of Ali, Tyson, and so on.
Yet, as I’m getting slightly older and dealing with some lingering injuries (not from a boxing ring, but from other amateur athletic endeavors), it was hard to totally engross myself in the streaming event.
When you sit there and realize that two people are getting in the ring and probably trying to hurt each other, for the sake of everyone’s well-being, you start to question if it’s a good idea.
I know that no one is getting through life in gem mint condition, but why do this on purpose?
I don’t have answers to this one yet.
Maybe we’ll come back to this one later.
Seeping into the faith
As a cherry on top of the weekend, the Tyson fight was referred to in the homily at Sunday Mass (a faith-based quote the former champ made during an interview), and it was also the topic of post-Mass conversation overheard between two servers.
There was just no avoiding the event that created such mixed reactions and made many of us (or at least me) think about different aspects of life.
What other normal or abnormal things throughout your days make you feel the same?
May your next boxing event make you think about life too.
Thank you for reading.
I’m praying for you.