Home Sport ‘Elderly abuse’… KSI, Conor McGregor, Terence Crawford and more fighters condemn Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson mismatch

‘Elderly abuse’… KSI, Conor McGregor, Terence Crawford and more fighters condemn Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson mismatch

Sport — 17/11/2024 · 0 Comment

Jake Paul has largely been slammed by the combat sports community following his unanimous decision victory over Mike Tyson in last night’s controversial showdown.

The social media star sailed through eight two-minute rounds of pitiful action against a severely faded version of Mike Tyson, claiming his 12th win as a self-proclaimed professional boxer.

And so, while he has always expressed a desire to earn the respect of fight fans, Jake Paul’s performance at the AT&T Stadium, Texas, seems to have had the reverse effect.

Rather, the 27-year-old has been heavily condemned for taking on a former world heavyweight champion who is more than 30 years his senior.

KSI, Conor McGregor and Terence Crawford react to Jake Paul’s victory over Mike Tyson

A lot has been made of Netflix’s introduction to live boxing and, in a sense, the event achieved everything it had hoped for.

Regardless of the fight itself, Paul and Tyson were both able to deliver astronomical viewership figures, with around 80 thousand fans in attendance and millions watching from around the world.

The money-making scheme, however, was put on at the expense of integrity and compassion, given that Tyson, at the age of 58, was at genuine risk of suffering catastrophic consequences.

So it is perhaps unsurprising, then, that an almighty uproar has now ensued on social media.

YouTuber and Misfits boxer KSI was one of the first to share his thoughts, branding the fight as ‘elderly abuse’ on his Instagram story.

UFC star Conor McGregor, though, gave a far more distasteful reaction, joking that Paul is now targeting Prichard Colon – a boxer who tragically suffered a brain injury back in 2015 – as his next opponent, before swiftly deleting his post on X.

Four-division world champion Terence Crawford, meanwhile, expressed his relief that Tyson exited the ring unscathed, while also highlighting the fact that the former heavyweight king only threw 97 punches.

Gervonta Davis, Tony Bellew and Francis Ngannou give their thoughts on Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson

Unsurprisingly, several more notable figures in the world of combat sports have taken to social media to blast Paul.

Lightweight star Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, for instance, labeled the former Disney Channel presenter as a ‘bozo.’

But former cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew, who was perhaps the most vocal throughout the build-up, went even further, encouraging fans to stop watching Paul’s fights.

Elsewhere on X, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou gave a more light-hearted response, and jokingly said: “Next time I see this [Jake Paul] guy I’m gonna give him 2 or 3 slaps.”