Why Did Mike Tyson Lose To Jake Paul?

This intentionally idiotic title has many of you saying, “Because he’s 31 years older than Jake Paul! Duh!” Of course that’s true! However, I would argue that even if Mike was still in his 20-year-old body today, that his mindset would inhibit his performance versus who he truly was 40 years ago. Allow me to explain and then draw a corollary to our business.

As I write this article I am somewhat disappointed that I wasted my Friday night watching this very boring Tyson vs. Paul boxing contest on Netflix, even aside from the technical glitches! However, the ladies fight was a great match. But I digress. I had hoped that Mike Tyson would knock out Jake Paul. I like Mike Tyson as he gets older, and he is the GOAT (greatest of all time). However, I have been a realist and understand that Mike Tyson is 58 years old, and Jake Paul (at age 27) is in the prime of his life physically. Father Time has an undefeated record. And Jake Paul is actually a great athlete not to be taken lightly! My friends thought I was crazy when I said that Jake Paul was going to win, much to my chagrin. Jake did indeed win by unanimous decision.

(Note: Many folks believed the match was “rigged.” Whether it was or not is not the point. Either way, my comments below are hard to deny.)

Me believing that Mike Tyson was not going to win had less to do with his physical abilities and more about his mindset as he has aged. Afterall, I have recently seen the training videos where he’s still destroying the heavy bags at lightning speed. Those training videos led many to say, “The old Tyson is back, and Jake Paul is in trouble!” I never bought into “Mike Tyson being back.” My lack of confidence in Tyson was not because of his aging physical abilities, but because his body language is completely different than what it used to be, which is insight into his psyche that used to drive him to knock people out. Again, what drove Tyson to kill his opponents when he was 20 years old was just as much about his psyche as it was his physical abilities, although his physical abilities were clearly superior. (I am obviously not a psychologist, but here is my view.)

In short, Mike Tyson does not have the killer instincts like he used to, even though leading up to this fight he convinced millions that “the old Mike is back.” Wrong! His body language, whether at the weigh-ins, photo sessions, on his way to the ring, or even while he is in the ring, is not as laser focused on his prey as the 20-year-old Mike was.

Thirty years ago, as he was entering the ring, or already in the ring, he only looked in one of two directions: Directly at his prey, or to the ground as he was contemplating how he was going to destroy his prey. It was internal, deep down in his gut. He wore all black, not looking around at what others were saying about him or cheering about. You knew that he was internally processing (maybe in an unhealthy way) what he was going to do to his opponent and how he was going to achieve his goal. He was hungry.

Today Mike’s body language tells me that he has lost this mindset when it comes to boxing. As far as body language, it is almost like Mike Tyson has become more concerned about other things than just achieving the “goal” of knocking somebody out. He’s looking around at his surroundings and not so much laser focused like a lion about to attack a bunny rabbit. When they ask for his commentary on what he is going to do to his opponent, he kind of shrugs his shoulders and says something fairly benign and non-convincing, almost like he doesn’t believe it himself. The 1980s and 1990s Mike Tyson made comments that you know he believed in his heart and gave some of us children nightmares. Do I dare say that today’s Mike Tyson seems self-conscious? Or certainly more “conscious” of things other than destroying his opponent.

However, why should he really want to absolutely kill somebody? Afterall, he has hit the pinnacle of the business, made millions of dollars, and has nothing to prove to anybody, certainly not to a 27-year-old kid (Jake Paul). He has become domesticated. Sometimes already hitting your “goals” will make you domesticated.

I bring all this up because once you have achieved high levels of success in our business and hit your “goal” you can become “domesticated.” Hence, the reason why we should continue to make new goals. I launched CG Financial Group, an IMO for independent agents, six years ago. As time has gone by, I hit a lot of goals that I set for my business. Every time I hit a goal, there was an inclination for me to say, “Let’s take a little break because I’ve earned it.” The fire burns out a little. This is called getting “fat and happy,”

Because I try to self-reflect a lot, I know when I am feeling “fat and happy” and therefore have made conscious efforts to quickly remedy this mindset along the way. You cannot let yourself get fat and happy, at least when it comes to doing something that you want to continue to grow. Naturally, Mike Tyson is a 58-year-old guy that no longer wants to beat people up, which makes it OK for him to be “fat and happy.” Conversely, I bet when it comes to your business and your growth aspirations, you do not want to get “fat and happy” and stagnant.

I have found that setting continuous goals and extending out the goal post is important for me in order for me to not become “domesticated.” Feeling “uncomfortable” is needed. If you continue to set goals for yourself and have a laser focus on that prey/goal, it is impossible for you to lose your edge. Again, I’m not suggesting that Tyson should be obsessed with being the world champion again, I’m just drawing the psychological corollary to why Tyson is not as “good” of a boxer as he used to be, aside from the fact that he is forty freaking years older!

When it comes to setting and hitting your goals, be that 20-year-old Tyson, don’t be self-conscious, don’t care about what those around you are saying about you, don’t get comfortable, don’t get “fat and happy,” and keep moving forward.

Charlie Gipple, CFP®, CLU®, ChFC®, is the owner of CG Financial Group, one of the fastest growing annuity, life, and long term care IMOs in the industry. Gipple’s passion is to fill the educational void left by the reduction of available training and prospecting programs that exist for agents today. Gipple is personally involved with guiding and mentoring CG Financial Group agents in areas such as conducting seminars, advanced sales concepts, case design, or even joint sales meetings. Gipple believes that agents don’t need “product pitching,” they need mentorship, technology, and somebody to pick up the phone…

Gipple can be reached by phone at 515-986-3065. Email: [email protected].