Mike Tyson explains why he kept biting his glove in Jake Paul defeat

The 58-year-old appeared to bite his glove repeatedly during the controversial boxing match

Alex Pattle
AT&T Stadium
Saturday 16 November 2024 02:35 EST
Comments
Mike Tyson makes ring walk for his first fight in 19 years

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Mike Tyson said he repeatedly bit his glove during his fight with Jake Paul because he has “a biting fixation”.

Tyson, 58, appeared to bite his glove numerous times during his points loss to Paul, 27, as the controversial fight played out at AT&T Stadium – home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.

Paul emerged a winner on all three scorecards – 80-72, 79-73, 79-73 – after eight two-minute rounds, with the bout streaming live on Netflix.

And one trend that viewers noticed was Tyson biting his glove, something he was asked about in his post-fight interview.

“Oh, I have a habit of biting my gloves, yeah,” said the former heavyweight champion. “I have a biting fixation.”

Tyson was seemingly joking about his famous disqualification against Evander Holyfield in 1997. On that night, Tyson was DQed after biting his opponent’s ear.

“I’ve heard about that,” replied interviewer Ariel Helwani. “I don’t want to know more...”

On Friday, Tyson was fighting professionally for the first time since 2005, when he lost to Kevin McBride via knockout. However, “Iron Mike” did box Roy Jones Jr in an exhibition as recently as 2020.

Meanwhile, Paul’s win took his pro record to 11-1, with the YouTuber having beaten numerous mixed martial arts stars and lesser-known boxers.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in