Riling him up. Before their epic Netflix fight, Jake Paul made headlines after he tried to indimidate Mike Tyson during their weigh-in at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on November 14, 2024. The sanctioned, professional fight is the largest age gaps between fighters in history.
Tyson weighed in at 223 lbs and made way to make his final staredown at the Youtuber-turned-boxer. When all of a sudden, Paul crawled up on stage and got too close to Tyson’s personal space. Tyson slapped Paul and was restrained by his crew as Paul yelled at the audience, “It’s personal now. He must die!”
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Paul went on social media to post the moment. He captioned the post, “@MikeTyson is this my Chris Rock moment?” referring to the 2022 Oscars where Will Smith slapped Chris Rock after the comedian poked fun at the winner’s wife.
Why did Mike Tyson slap Jake Paul?
Simply put, Mike Tyson retaliated because Jake Paul stepped on his foot. “I was in my socks and he had on shoes,” the heavyweight champion told The New York Post. “He stepped on my toe because he is a f–king a–hole. I wanted to think it happened by accident. But now I think it may have happened on purpose.” He continued, “I was in a lot of pain. I had to reciprocate.”
After The Post asked what he would do if Jake Paul was standing in front of him, Tyson would say “Talking’s over.”
A representative of Tyson told the outlet: “Jake has been poking the bear the whole time. Mike slapped the s–t out of him.” Mike Tyson’s longtime friend Tom Patti felt the same way. “My personal opinion (is) Jake shows enough disrespect that he starts crawling up to Mike and then pouncing in front of him … like some sort of lurching animal. Mike put him in his place,’’ Patti told USA Today.
“I didn’t even feel it. He’s angry. He’s an angry little elf,” Paul later told media. “Mike Tyson, I thought that was a cute slap, buddy, but tomorrow you’re getting knocked out.”