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Mike Tyson slapped Jake Paul at a charged weigh-in for Friday’s controversial heavyweight fight in Texas.
Novice boxer Paul, 27, will take on 58-year-old Tyson at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas.
After both men had weighed in, Paul crawled across the floor before rising up to Tyson’s eyeline for the traditional final head-to-head.
Tyson had refused to engage with Paul’s goading for much of fight week, but slapped his opponent across the face, prompting security and team members to rush in to separate the fighters.
“Talking’s over,” Tyson said and walked off stage. Paul, meanwhile, was smiling before sitting down and appearing to meditate.
“I didn’t even feel it. He’s angry. He’s an angry little elf,” Paul said of the slap.
“Mike Tyson, I thought that was a cute slap, buddy, but tomorrow you’re getting knocked out.”
Two-time world champion Tyson – who last competed professionally in 2005 – had just weighed in at 16st 4lb with Paul a pound lighter.
Among the chaos of the headline antics, undisputed light-welterweight champion Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano offered a calm appetiser, making weight with ease, conducting a friendly face-off before using their time on the microphones to hail the progress of women’s boxing.
“I told her this is our time,” Serrano said afterwards. “Let’s do the same thing we did two years ago.
“This is the defining moment for all women in boxing. This is our time. We worked really hard to be in this position.”
In 2022, Taylor narrowly beat Serrano on points to edge an all-time classic at lightweight.
The rematch is at light-welterweight, with both women weighing 9st 11lb.
Taylor’s promoter Eddie Hearn was in attendance, despite some reports that he would not be given a credential for the event.
The Matchroom boss has been critical of Paul-Tyson and said he would leave before the main event.
He applauded his fighter Taylor, who was equally complimentary of her fellow trailblazer.
“I’ve had some amazing moments in 18 years but I think tomorrow night will be one of my best ever,” Taylor said.
This was not your typical boxing event. As such, it was an unconventional weigh-in.
Competitors weighed in behind closed doors on Thursday afternoon but weights were not made public until the ceremonial weigh-in later in the evening.
A long queue formed outside the arena two hours before the start. Once inside, many of those fans took a swing on a boxing punch machine depicting Paul’s face.
Members of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleading team provided entertainment, while two figures dressed as Transformers – around 10ft tall – paced around the audience.
By the time the undercard fighters hit the scales, the venue was packed with at least 3,000 fans.
There was a noticeable ‘you can hear a pin drop’ moment when the slap occurred.
The unsavoury moment was over in a blink of an eye and will now be viewed and shared endlessly as the final viral moment before tomorrow’s fight.
The next time Paul and Tyson meet will be in the ring. Nobody quite knows what to expect.
