Mike Tyson gave Jake Paul a hard smack during their weigh-in before their upcoming, highly-anticipated fight on Netflix.
Now, most can expect a little bit of trash-talking or jump-fakes at one another. But Tyson’s slap may now be the second-biggest that’s been witnessed on stage.
Check out the moment below.
In the nearly 30-second clip, which was uploaded Thursday night, both contenders are seen approaching one another as fighters regularly would for a promotional weigh-in. However, instead of walking upright, Paul dropped to the floor to walk on all fours toward Tyson. He then sprung up to meet Tyson eye-to-eye, and that’s when Tyson suddenly smacked him on the face.
A staffer immediately broke the two apart. Not even stunned, Paul mocked Tyson, who’d been pulled away, by patting his cheeks as if to imply Tyson’s slap didn’t do any damage. Paul then turned his attention to the crowd, charging their energy up for the face-off they’re about to see Friday night.
Tyson, 58, weighed in at 233 pounds, and Paul, 27, weighed 220 pounds. Per ESPN, Tyson slapped Paul because Paul “purposely” stepped on his foot during their stare-down, which he says drove him to connect his hand to Paul’s face.
The boxing match — Netflix’s first — goes down on Friday night. The main card event begins with the start of the live Netflix broadcast at 8 p.m. EST / 5 p.m. PST. The preliminary card will begin at 5:30 p.m. EST / 2:30 p.m. PST.
