The madness rolled through an anonymous breakfast bar in Arlington, just outside Dallas, soon after six o'clock on Tuesday morning. Sleepy diners gazed at a bank of television screens which had lit up with images of two contrasting men on the early morning NBC news. In front of them a suave anchorman promised that tomorrow night's manufactured scrap in north Texas between "the 58-year-old boxing icon Iron Mike Tyson and the Problem Child, Jake Paul," will transport us "back to the glory days of boxing".
As if we needed any more convincing the screen then filled with the scraggly bearded face of Paul, "the 27-year-old YouTube sensation", who praised the owners of the Dallas Cowboys for sharing his vision of staging "the biggest fight in the history of boxing" at their AT&T Stadium just 10 miles down the road from where we sat drinking our lukewarm coffee.
We did not hear the ghosts of Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, Sonny Liston and Muhammad Ali howling in agony. Instead, if they had been forced to hear the blabbering inanity of the world in 2024, they might have laughed.
Twelve hours later, at the Toyota Music Factory in Irving, a 20-minute drive from Arlington, Tyson and Paul staged a public workout to kickstart this surreal fight week which will culminate in fisticuffs on Netflix. Tyson was said to be "ferocious" as he backed his cornerman against the ropes. The trainer wore a body protector which absorbed the blows while Tyson showed decent head movement as he threw some relatively fast combinations. But it's easy for a former world champion when no one is punching back.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 14, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 14, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Macquarie fined £13m for failings that allowed 400 fictitious trades
Macquarie Bank's London branch has been fined £13m by the UK's financial watchdog for \"serious failings\" that allowed one of its junior traders to record more than 400 fictitious trades over a period of 20 months.
Decarbonising Will making 2030 the goal cost more than 2035? Come clean, Labour
The government's plan to decarbonise the electricity system by 2030 is a vast undertaking.
Bosses at Halfords and AO blame budget for predicted price rises
British consumers face paying more for car repairs and new kitchen kit after the retailers Halfords and AO.com warned that the autumn budget had increased their costs.
Fewer women in top FTSE 250 roles as 'glass ceiling' persists
The glass ceiling for women in top roles at FTSE 250 companies is still \"stubbornly in place\", according to research that found the number of women in executive director roles had fallen by more than 10% in the past two years.
Asda revival could take up to five years, says Leighton
It could take three to five years to revive Asda's fortunes, according to the veteran retail boss Allan Leighton, who first helped turn around the supermarket chain more than 20 years ago.
Paradise lost? Cruise ships are having a 'catastrophic impact' on the Bahamas, say activists
Joseph Darville has fond memories of swimming with his young son off the south coast of Grand Bahama island and watching together as dolphins frolicked offshore.
Senior bankers to get bonuses years earlier under new rules
Senior UK bankers will receive their bonuses years earlier under plans by the Bank of England to relax post-financial crisis restrictions.
Romania Pro-Russian's presidential bid troubles Europe
After an upset in the first of three crunch votes that could lead to Romania veering towards a more anti-EU, pro-Russian stance, the country will return to the polls on Sunday for a parliamentary ballot followed, on 8 December, by a presidential runoff.
They were children who looked like me' Netflix show recounts Rio police killings
Netflix show recounts Rio police killings
Ukraine suffers power cuts after Russia launches its biggest drone attack yet
Russia launched its biggest ever drone attack on Ukraine on Monday night and yesterday morning, sending a reported 188 drones into the country against various targets, resulting in power cuts in part of western Ukraine and damage to residential buildings outside Kyiv.
