Two of the most talked-about boxing matches in 2020 — the return of a 54-year-old Mike Tyson to the ring and an exhibition fight between social media personality Jake Paul and former NBA player Nate Robinson — left boxing purists wincing.
But for former world champion and current mega-promoter Oscar De La Hoya, the sideshow fights brought welcome attention to a sport that has struggled to regain its must-watch status since its last slate of stars who came up during the 1990s began trading in their boxing gloves for AARP cards.
"It was entertainment,” De La Hoya, 47, said about Tyson’s Nov. 28 exhibition fight against Roy Jones Jr. "I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that, for the first time in a long time, fans and people were congregating to watch an event. Mike Tyson is such an inspiration, he got in good shape and looked good.”