This past weekend, Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul’s fight has been making all the noise on social media platforms. This was indeed a highly anticipated bout between the former heavyweight boxing champion and a YouTube sensation. Although most of the fans were rooting for Tyson’s win, it was Jake Paul who was deemed the winner by the unanimous decision.
The outcome of this fight has certainly become a huge talking point ever since. The most common complaint was the lack of intensity and the fight living up to the hype. Some conspiracy theorists even went as far as to say that Tyson threw the fight so that Paul could win. Pumped after the victory, Paul even challenged former UFC champion Connor McGregor to a fight. But NASCAR and IndyCar driver Conor Daly misunderstood Paul’s message, and he challenged him in return.
Conor Daly isn’t afraid to fight Jake Paul in the ring
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Despite the criticism and arguments about Jake Paul and Mike Tyson’s fight, the event was a massive success. The fight that took place at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, attracted a total of 72,300 fans. Moreover, the entire event was streamed on Netflix, and it hit a peak watching of 65 million around the world, whereas it hit 38 million concurrent streams in the United States.
There are also reports that despite losing the fight, Mike Tyson took home a good $20 million. And this astronomical figure is something that Conor Daly has his eyes on. Racing is indeed an expensive sport, and with the backing of sponsors or a racing family, it is hard for a driver to continue racing at the highest level. In Daly’s case, he’s still on the hunt for his full-time ride in IndyCar.
A couple million dollars certainly would do the trick for Daly, and this is why he sent out a challenge to Jake Paul. “I know those guys made insane money doing that fight, and it didn’t even look like that much of a fight. So why not throw a tweet out there and saying, Hey, if this is to me, I mean, consider me locked in; the price I get paid is maybe 6-10 million dollars? Maybe we have a conversation, so would I be actually willing to do that? I will almost do anything to get in a race car for a full-time IndyCar.” Daly said this while speaking to Dirty Mo Media.
Without a full-time commitment to the IndyCar Series, Daly did feature in the Xfinity and Truck Series races. He finished P14 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway driving the #26 Sam Hunts Racing car. Whereas out of the three Truck races, the 17th place finish was his best driving the Niece Motorsports truck. However, not everyone from the NASCAR community was thrilled to see Mike Tyson go down without a fight.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was expecting a Mike Tyson knockout
For many like Dale Jr. who watched Tyson at his peak, they were expecting at least a knockout blow from him. Although he wasn’t in the best shape possible because of his age, he still could’ve ended the fight with a lethal blow, which never came. Dale Jr. wasn’t even interested in knowing who was against Tyson; all he wanted was to see the opponent go down. But much to his disappointment, Tyson lost the fight, and he never got to see a real boxing match.
Disappointed by the whole event, Jr. hurled out a rant while speaking on DJD. “You did not give a sh-t who the other guy was. When they got to fighting, I was like, ‘Who the hell was I to imagine that Mike Tyson could actually knock this guy out. I live in a fantasy world where I thought, damn, Mike Tyson, I hope he can knock this Well, it could have been my best friend in there with Mike Tyson. Whoever Mike Tyson gets in the ring with, I want a knockout.”
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Jr. even suggested that the whole fight was rigged, and he labeled the whole boxing buzz as a circus. “I don’t believe anything anymore. It’s really kind of turned into a circus. There’s not a true battle anymore. When you are watching all these matches, you feel like the ending’s already predetermined. It feels a lot like a match race that my dad might have ran with Kenny Schrader, where they’re like, let’s just make it look good.”
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Well, given all the punches and fists that have been thrown across NASCAR events, perhaps it’s time fans should get the taste of real action. Imagine Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. getting in a ring; it would be a hell of a show.