Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
I am concerned about the upcoming Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight. It’s happening on July 20 on Netflix. It would be a nightmare to see Tyson, our once great champion, a man who was synonymous with power, Blackness and boxing excellence, be knocked out by a white boy. And not just any white boy, but a loudmouth bro who’s trolling the boxing world by making himself the biggest heel and the biggest draw in the game. I don’t think Paul’s going to KO our brother, and even if he does, there will be an easy explanation.
There are only a few possible scenarios here. I look at this like trying to figure out the end of a movie before you go because, let’s be real, this is theater. It’s theater that pretends to be sport. It’s theater that pretends to be real, but it’s still theater in that there’s a script of some sort. So what script have they cooked up for us this time?
The least likely ending is that Paul knocks out Tyson. That would be highly unsatisfying because Paul would never be able to convince people that the fight was real. Everyone will assume it was fixed and with good reason. I’ve seen most of Paul’s fights and in every case, I’ve thought oh, the other guy let himself be knocked out. That was part of the deal. It took me a minute to realize Paul was doing boxing theater but I caught on.
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I do not believe that Tyson would agree to a script where he is knocked out. I think his pride is too great for that. Paul needs this fight, Tyson does not. So why would Tyson agree to lose? But if it happens, we’ll never believe it’s real and it won’t make Paul look good. It won’t make Tyson look that bad because we’ll say, OK, that was some WWE-type combat theater-ish, and he’s very old. There’s no way Paul could believably…
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