Tony Bellew has accused Jake Paul of wearing 'full on puncher's gloves' during his bout against Mike Tyson, which took place in Texas. Despite aiming for a knockout, Paul only secured a win against the 58-year-old Tyson.
The match was notably one-sided; Tyson landed just 18 punches versus Paul's 78 connections. Former WBC cruiserweight champion Bellew took to Twitter to express his dissatisfaction with the disparity in the boxers' gloves, stating: 'The gloves Mike has on are looking heavily padded while Jake has on grants which are full on puncher's gloves. There is a huge difference in them gloves and I'm only watching from a bed.'
Ahead of the fight, the boxers were ordered to wear larger, padded 14oz gloves rather than the usual 10oz gloves in a bid to reduce the impact of blows. Moreover, Bellew condemned the event itself, arguing: 'We are all to blame for this man! We are all talking and watching! We have to stop this fool [Paul]! Don't tune into him until he fights someone who is fit healthy and not a grandfather! Any proper boxing people helping Paul need to look at themselves! This is just sad.'
However, even with his strong criticism of Paul, Bellew acknowledged some post-fight comments by the 27-year-old, who claimed he held back during the fight to avoid harming Tyson. Bellew praised Paul's decision not to pursue a knockout, underlining the respect and dignity it showed the veteran boxer. Bellew commented: 'I don't like this stupid idiot kid but I will say this... he stopped beating on Mike there and showed him some respect and dignity by letting him survive. He didn't go for the KO there, he stepped off him and let him be.'
Following the clash, regulatory action led to mandatory rest periods being imposed on both fighters by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Given the length of the fight, the enforced downtime totals 24 days each for Tyson and Paul. Despite these restrictions, both are already plotting their return to the ring; Paul is setting his sights on Canelo Álvarez.
