Mike Tyson shatters former rival Roy Jones Jr’s incredible 12,000 day record after Jake Paul defeat
Mike Tyson has got one over Roy Jones Jr despite losing to YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul.
Heavyweight legend Tyson returned at the age of 58 to take on influencer Paul in a seismic boxing event at the AT&T Stadium in Texas.
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The spectacle broke a number of records particularly in terms of viewership, with 60 million fans tuning into the clash worldwide on Netflix, which saw him handed a crushing points defeat.
Tyson looked a shell of himself in his defeat which counted on his record, 19 years on from his last competitive outing against Kevin McBride before retiring in 2005.
And although ultimately ending in disappointment, 'Iron Mike' did manage to etch his name into the heavyweight history books.
His latest foray into the ring against Paul came 14,449 days [40 years] on from his professional debut, where he defeated Hector Mercedes on March 6, 1985 as an 18-year-old prospect.
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It sees Tyson shatter the record for having the longest-spanning career out of any of the 111 past-and-present heavyweight world champions.
The ferocious punching icon stole the record from recent rival Jones Jr, who he fought in an exhibition in 2020.
Jones Jr has a professional career spanning 12,384 days after he made a full professional comeback in a defeat to Anthony Pettis in April 2023.
This came 35 years on from his professional debut saw him take out Ricky Randall in two rounds in May 1989.
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He had snatched the over 100 year record which had previously been held by Jack Johnson since 1931, who fought for a long career of 12,231 days.
Tyson will of course find some positives from the fight, especially given there was so much concern during the build-up to his return.
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Evander Holyfield had made a return in an exhibition which ended in disaster against Vitor Belfort in 2021, where he was brutally knocked out and Tyson managed to avoid the same outcome.
Although it will go down as an unneeded stain on his professional resume, Tyson pocketed a healthy purse believed to be around $20 million.
After the outing, Tyson hinted at another comeback, with Paul's brother Logan potentially next on his hit-list.
It is unclear if yet another professional fight would be sanctioned, particularly given he admitted he 'almost died' in a medical incident before the clash.
And former world champion Amir Khan believes now is the time he really needs to leave the sport behind and hang up his gloves.
He told : "Mike Tyson didn’t need to take that fight; it was so sad to see he got beat by a YouTuber.
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"But we all know Mike Tyson was done and it was really tough to see.
"At the end of the day, I don’t know why he needs to do it because he’s such a big name.
"I’m not sure financially whether he needs the money or not. It’s sad to see one of the greatest going in the ring at people who are at the peak of their career and young, strong and hungry.
"It was like a sparring session, but he was still getting caught and at his age, he doesn’t need to be taking shots like that.
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"But he needs to stop and hang the gloves up he will end up getting hurt.
"He’s only getting older and slower; his reaction time is slowing down, and you could see how he was getting caught."
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