With an estimated 120 million people tuning into Netflix to watch last night's highly anticipated night of boxing, it's no surprise that every small detail is being talked about in the fallout.
From Mike Tyson's butt becoming an unexpected star of the show to the legendary boxer's big "missed opportunity", there were a number of eyebrow-raising moments.
But as the "Baddest Man on the Planet" competed in his first professional fight for 19 years in front of 72,000 at AT&T Stadium, one small detail that did not escape the eagle eyes of viewers or the commentary team was Mike Tyson's penchant for biting his gloves.
"Why does Tyson keep biting his glove? Is it so he doesn’t bite Jake? TYSON PLEASE BITE HIS EAR OFF," one fan wrote.
And there were a lot of suggestions about why he was doing it, with retired world champ Tony Bellew tweeting: "Mike's biting his glove cos he’s in pain."
"His mind, training and muscle memory is there but his body isn't cooperating. Imagine knowing exactly how to do something and wanting to but your body won't let you," another wrote. "It's frustrating, so he bites his glove out of frustration."
Others who firmly believe the fight was stage believe Tyson was biting his clove as a way of stopping himself just KO-ing Paul. "Mike Tyson had the chance to finish off Jake Paul at this very moment," one person wrote. "You know he thought about it. Then he bit his glove."
"Mike Tyson actually had to bite his gloves so not to throw them. He was holding back his instinct. #rigged," another wrote
Sharing their theory about Tyson using the gesture as a "sign" for Paul to pull his punches, another X user suggested: "Mike Tyson biting his glove so frequently was a signal for Jake Paul to pull his punches.
"Then continue swinging when he stopped biting his glove. Watch for the pattern."
And sharing a video of Tyson during training, another claimed: "The match is fixed and was just for done for money. I mean Jake Paul was sweating [compared] to Mike. Biting the gloves was all to hold himself back from KILLING him. They told him not kill him."
However, after the fight, Tyson happily addressed the glove biting in a post-match interview.
When interviewer Ariel Helwani pointed out that some of the commentary team had been questioning what the in-ring gesture was all about, 58-year-old Tyson replied: "That was a habit of mine, biting my glove when I fight [...]
"I have a biting fixation."
Of course, this tongue-in-cheek admission by Tyson harks back to his infamous 1997 disqualification during a match against Evander Holyfield, where Tyson startlingly bit off part of Holyfield’s ear.
The bite landed Tyson a $3 million fine and a one-year ban from the sport.
"I’ve heard about that,” Helwani quipped: “I don’t want to know more…”
Paul unanimously claimed a victory over Tyson, scoring an unequivocal win on all scorecards with 80-72, 79-73, 79-73.
Despite the jest, Friday’s face-off marked a significant moment for Tyson, who was stepping back into the professional ring for the first time since his 2005 knockout loss to Kevin McBride. Although he had a less consequential bout against Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition match in 2020, this was Tyson’s reentry into professional boxing.
And sadly, it appears that it'll be his last. When asked if he's be returning to the ring in the future, "Iron Mike" said: "I don’t know. It depends on the situation [...] I don’t think so."
"I didn’t prove nothing to anyone, just myself," Tyson continued. "I’m not one of these guys who goes out to please the world, I’m just happy with what I can do."
On the flip side, Jake Paul’s victory only adds another feather to his cap, pushing his professional record to an impressive 11-1. Having already conquered a slew of mixed martial arts fighters and lesser-known boxers, Paul’s triumph over the boxing titan further cements his place in the combat sports world.
