Mike Tyson slapped Jake Paul at Thursday’s weigh-in ahead of their Friday night fight in Texas, with the incident seemingly coming about because Paul accidentally stepped on Tyson’s toe when the two came together for a face-to-face.
Paul (10-1, 7 KO) weighed in at 227¼ lbs, with Tyson (50-6, 44 KO) at 228½, if you’re actually interested in their weights.
“He’s an angry little elf,” Paul said on the stage right after, when Ariel Helwani insisted that Paul “just felt (Tyson’s) power,” with Paul adding that Tyson “hits like a bitch” as he started screaming like a pro wrestler, adding that Tyson “must die.”
“I didn’t really feel it, to be honest, quite literally didn’t really feel it,” Paul said backstage after, having turned off the screaming bit.
“It’s personal now. I respect it. More sales for the fight, more hype, I love it. This is the Mike Tyson I wanted the whole, entire time. Get him angry, let’s bring out the badass motherfucker, because he’s going to sleep.
“I love it. I love this shit. I was asking for it all week. I got what I wanted, and it was a slap to the face. He made a lot of people happy with that.”
Undisputed super lightweight champion Katie Taylor and challenger Amanda Serrano also made weight, each coming in at 137½ lbs, comfortably under their 140 lb limit.