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50 Cent and Snoop Dogg are among the many boxing fans who have reacted to Mike Tyson slapping Jake Paul at a tense weigh-in ahead of their eagerly anticipated fight.
Violence erupted at the pre-fight event on Thursday (November 14) when 58-year-old Tyson smacked his significantly younger opponent in the face during the customary onstage face-off.
The former heavyweight champion was quickly pulled away by security guards to avoid things escalating any further, while Paul stood his ground and took the strike on the chin (literally) before taunting Tyson by patting his face.
The testy exchange left Snoop Dogg even more excited for the heavyweight showdown, which goes down on Friday (November 15) at Dallas’ AT&T Arena.
Alongside a video of the viral moment, Tha Doggfather wrote on Instagram: “That’s the MIKE I know!!” as well as: “You know ima b watching tomorrow night !!”
50 Cent, meanwhile, shared what many believe to be the explanation for Tyson’s violent outburst.
He posted a close-up video of Paul stepping on Tyson’s foot (seemingly by accident) as they began to square up, alongside a separate clip of the boxing legend talking about how sensitive his feet are to pain.
“See you step on an older man’s feet, and shit can get crazy. LOL,” the G-Unit boss joked in his caption.
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Mike Tyson has since confirmed that he slapped Jake Paul because the YouTuber-turned-boxer stepped on his foot.
“I was in my socks and he had on shoes,” he told The New York Post after the weigh-in. “He stepped on my toe because he is a fucking asshole. I wanted to think it happened by accident. But now I think it may have happened on purpose.”
He added: “I was in a lot of pain. I had to reciprocate.”
For his part, Paul has brushed off the slap, saying at the weigh-in: “I didn’t even feel it. He’s angry. He’s an angry little elf. Mike Tyson, I thought that was a cute slap, buddy, but tomorrow you’re getting knocked out.”
Tyson, who last competed professionally in 2005, weighed in at 16st 4lb, just one pound heavier than Paul who is 31 years his junior.
Despite Iron Mike’s fearsome reputation in the ring, Cam’ron has predicted that Jake Paul will emerge victorious.
Speaking on his sports talk show It Is What It Is earlier this year, he said: “Mike is my man [but] this is my prediction for the fight: if Mike don’t get him out of there in five rounds, then I believe that Jake Paul’s gonna win the fight.”
The fight airs exclusively on Netflix from 8pm ET tonight.
