Mike Tyson and biting go hand-in-hand. The heavyweight champion is known for his infamous incident against Evander Holyfield in 1997, when he bite off part of the ear of his opponent.
However, he was up to his old tricks once again on Friday — this time, on himself.
Biting was the name of the game for Tyson on Friday night, as the 58-year-old showed off a unique tick of nibbling on his glove while he was shielding himself from Paul. He lost to his younger counterpart by unanimous decision in the bout at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
Tyson did it early and often during the contest, and it continued for the remainder of the fight. It had the Netflix team in the booth asking the same question as many at home — is there a reason for Tyson biting his glove?
Here are the supposed reason behind the biting.
MORE: Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight results, highlights
Why does Mike Tyson bite his gloves?
The Netflix crew, who spent a majority of the first half of the fights speculating about the odd tactic, did get an answer from Tyson himself after the match. He explained that the biting of his gloves was just “a habit” — nothing more.
“I have a habit of biting my gloves, I have a biting fixation,” Tyson said after the match.
“I have a biting fixation.”
— Mike Tyson when asked why he was biting his glove at the #PaulTyson fight. pic.twitter.com/0LrE94LzF6
— Pop Base (@PopBase) November 16, 2024
One of the first things that stood out during the Paul vs. Tyson fight was the heavyweight’s recurring decision to bite his glove. As he was shielding his face, his mouth could be seen closing the thumb on his left hand.
On the Netflix broadcast, analyst Roy Jones Jr. was adamant that the glove biting was weird and not something normally associated with Tyson’s tactics in the ring. But play-by-play announcer Mauro Ranallo was convinced that he had seen the legendary boxer do the same thing in prior fights.
During the match, analyst Rosie Perez offered the smart solution of asking Amir Tyson, who was a reporter on the Netflix broadcast. He was the one with the microphone giving an interview to his father when Tyson flashed the camera in the locker room.
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