Mike Tyson's coach breaks silence following disastrous loss to Jake Paul and provides update on future fights
'Iron Mike' could not roll back the years on Friday evening.
Mike Tyson’s coach, Rafael Cordeiro, has finally given his verdict on his fighter’s loss against Jake Paul.
Tyson, 58, could not roll back the years as Paul, 27, came away with a convincing unanimous decision victory in Arlington, Texas.
The win improved Paul’s record to 11-1 while Tyson’s altered to 50-2-7, but his legacy in the sport was assured many decades ago.
Although the former heavyweight champion showed glimpses of his former self early in the first round as he attacked Paul, the younger of the two was simply too quick and agile, connecting with punches at will.
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Before and after the event, several high-profile names from the combat sports world voiced their concerns regarding Tyson’s health, with both Dana White and Eddie Hearn weighing in with their expert opinions.
However, fortunately, Tyson came through the eight rounds unscathed.
Now, his coach, Cordeiro, has spoken out about how he and Tyson thought they could win the fight.
“We worked for seven months for this moment,” he explained.
“I truly believed we had this victory before the fight.
"He never asked to give up.”
“He's [Mike Tyson] the people's champ,” he added,
“He's inspired many people outside of the ring. The most important thing [is] that Mike is going back home to his loved ones.”
Paul spoke of wanting to knock Tyson out during the build-up to the fight but admitted he eased the pressure when he noticed the 58-year-old was tiring in the latter rounds.
“Yeah, definitely. Definitely a bit,” Paul said when asked in the post-fight press conference if he took it easy on Tyson.
“I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn't want to hurt someone that didn't need to be hurt.”
The 31-year age difference was there for all to see, as Paul landed 78 punches compared to ‘Iron Mike’s’ 18 strikes, which helped the 27-year-old convince the judges to give him the victory – the three ringside judges scored the contest 80-72, 79-73, 79-73.
The future of both fighters is still unclear, but Paul is likely to continue his boxing career, having called out UFC star Conor McGregor in the hours following the fight.
As for Tyson, he called out Logan Paul – older brother of Jake – who has also tried his hand at boxing previously facing KSI and Floyd Mayweather before recently embarking on a career in the WWE.
Topics: Boxing, Mike Tyson, Jake Paul, Dana White, Eddie Hearn, Logan Paul
Luke Davies