"Convinced me I was wrong"- Michael Johnson weighs in on the highly anticipated clash between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul

By Adityan Pillai

Modified Nov 17, 2024 04:27 GMT

Michael Johnson weighed in on the highly anticipated clash between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul. The legendary athlete revealed how his initial prediction about the aftermath of the fight was completely wrong considering the massive success of the event.

Mike Tyson and Jake Paul went head-to-head in a boxing match at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The fight drew great attention from fans worldwide who were excited to witness the legendary boxer's return to the ring. The fight was initially scheduled to take place on July 20, 2024; however, it was postponed after Tyson had fallen ill on a flight days before the commencement of the event.

Jake Paul defeated Mike Tyson by a unanimous decision with a score of 79-73. The event was live-streamed on Netflix and several users complained of a lag due to a surge in the number of concurrent users tuning in to watch the fight. All in all, the event was very successful, and legendary athlete Michael Johnson took to X to express his thoughts on the event.

Johnson revealed that he had initially believed that the event would not gain much traction; however, after looking at the consistent rise in the hype, he realized that he was wrong. Furthermore, he expressed how marketing is essential for an event to be successful in today's time.

"When this fight was first announced I thought it was stupid. Several months of hype convinced me I was wrong. I was right all along! The power of marketing and hype cannot be denied,"

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Michael Johnson's perspective on the latest track documentary series 'Sprint'

Michael Johnson at the 2000 USATF Olympic Trials - 400 meters - Source: Getty

Michael Johnson has been vocal about his efforts to bring about a change in track and field to make it a global sport. He believes that track needs an event that would connect with the fans even during the off-season. In an attempt to bring about a change in the trajectory of the sport and make it popular worldwide, Johnson launched his track league that will be completely fan-focussed and would feature some of the fastest athletes in the world.

He took to X to express his thoughts on the latest Netflix Documentary series, which featured Noah Lyles, Gabby Thomas, Letsile Tebogo and Sha'Carri Richardson, among others, during their appearance at the Paris Olympics.

Michael Johnson revealed that the documentary had done a great job of highlighting the sport to a wider audience.

"In my opinion it’s doing what we hoped for by highlighting the sport to a broad audience and bringing casual fans and non track fans to the sport. Is there room for improvement? Of course. Always!" he wrote.

Johnson's Grand Slam Track's debut event will be held in Kingston, Jamaica, on April 4, 2025.