Mike Tyson explained why he slapped Jake Paul at the weigh-in and press conference for their boxing match.
At the weigh-in for the fight on Thursday, Nov. 14, Tyson and Paul faced off but were quickly separated after the latter appeared to antagonize the former. The 58-year-old Tyson retaliated against the 27-year-old YouTuber-turned-boxer with a vicious slap, which saw several people at the event intervene to keep them apart.
In an interview with The New York Post, Tyson spoke about his reasoning behind the slap. "I was in my socks and he had on shoes," said Tyson. "He stepped on my toe because he is a fucking asshole. I wanted to think it happened by accident. But now I think it may have happened on purpose. I was in a lot of pain. I had to reciprocate."
After clips of the slap started to circulated online, an interview Tyson gave with GQ Sports in 2019 resurfaced because he mentioned how he doesn't like his toes being stepped on. "I have the worst feet in the world, and if somebody steps on my feet, I would totally tap out," he said in the resurfaced clip.
In a tweet shared later on Thursday, Paul indicated that the slap was a major moment for him and one he'll look back on fondly. "This is a pinch me moment," wrote Jake Paul. "I got slapped by Mike Tyson."
In a video of the moments leading up to the slap, Paul approached Tyson on all-fours like a gorilla in a provocation that some have construed as racist. He then faced off against Tyson, who wasn't wearing any shoes, and stood on his toes.
The two boxers will enter the ring at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Friday, with the event livestreamed on Netflix.
