- Jake Paul and Mike Tyson stepped on the scale Thursday night before their fight
- Tyson slapped his rival, who reacted by promising to make Iron Mike pay.
- A friend of the heavyweight boxer has revealed the reason for Tyson’s slap
A friend of Mike Tyson has revealed the reason why the legendary heavyweight boxer slapped Jake Paul at the weigh-in before their fight on Friday night.
Paul and Tyson stepped on the scale Thursday in their final match before the pair met in the ring at AT&T Stadium in Texas.
The pair found themselves in the usual confrontation after the weigh-in, with Tyson shocking viewers by slapping the YouTuber.
Tyson’s former training partner turned politician Tom Patti has now revealed the reason why the 58-year-old lashed out at Paul.
He claimed Tyson was retaliating after Paul, the YouTuber-turned-boxer, stepped on his foot after lunging at him.
“Jake stepped on Mike’s foot and that caused the reaction,” said Tom Patti, one of Tyson’s old friends. USA today.
Mike Tyson shocked fans by slapping Jake Paul after his weigh-in on Thursday night.
A friend of Tyson’s claimed the boxer had retaliated after Paul stepped on his right foot.
“I was there and Mike just told me.
‘My personal opinion is that Jake shows enough disrespect to start crawling towards Mike and then jump in front of him… like some kind of wobbling animal.
“Mike put him in his place.”
The footage appears to back up Patti’s comments with Paul, who was wearing sneakers, seen landing on the top of Tyson’s right foot before the confrontation.
Paul appeared relatively unfazed by the blow while Tyson was pinned and made few comments before leaving the stage. That gave Paul a chance at the microphone to deliver his final message.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on stage, Paul told him: “Mike Tyson, it was a nice slap, but tomorrow you’re going to get knocked out.”
‘I’m fucking it up, I’m fucking it up! Hit like an idiot. It’s personal now, it’s personal now!
In a chilling finale, he delivered a three-word message: “He must die!”
Paul accused of ‘disrespect’ and being a ‘staggering animal’ for crawling to Tyson
Paul seemed relatively unfazed by the blow as Tyson was pinned before leaving the stage.
Tyson and Paul had stepped on the scale just 24 hours before they faced each other in the ring in Texas
Moments before, Tyson weighed just over a pound more than Paul. Having previously operated as a cruiserweight, Paul bulked up to face Tyson and weighed in at 227.2 pounds.
Tyson then wore Versace pants and looked in incredible condition, especially considering he turned 58 in July, when he tipped the scales at 228.4 pounds.
A day earlier, Paul, Tyson and their billboard cast held a press conference at the Toyota Music Factory in Irving, Texas.
Tyson, 58, had his last sanctioned professional fight 19 years ago despite competing in an exhibition with Roy Jones Jr. in 2020.