Mike Tyson explains why he kept biting his glove in Jake Paul defeat

The 58-year-old appeared to bite his glove repeatedly during the controversial boxing match

Mike Tyson said he repeatedly bit his glove during his fight with Jake Paul because he has “a biting fixation”.

Tyson, 58, appeared to bite his glove numerous times during his points loss to Paul, 27, as the controversial fight played out at AT&T Stadium – home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.

Paul emerged a winner on all three scorecards – 80-72, 79-73, 79-73 – after eight two-minute rounds, with the bout streaming live on Netflix.

• FOLLOW LIVE: Paul vs Tyson fallout after controversial boxing match

And one trend that viewers noticed was Tyson biting his glove, something he was asked about in his post-fight interview.

“Oh, I have a habit of biting my gloves, yeah,” said the former heavyweight champion. “I have a biting fixation.”

Tyson was seemingly joking about his famous disqualification against Evander Holyfield in 1997. On that night, Tyson was DQed after biting his opponent’s ear.

“I’ve heard about that,” replied interviewer Ariel Helwani. “I don’t want to know more...”

On Friday, Tyson was fighting professionally for the first time since 2005, when he lost to Kevin McBride via knockout. However, “Iron Mike” did box Roy Jones Jr in an exhibition as recently as 2020.

Meanwhile, Paul’s win took his pro record to 11-1, with the YouTuber having beaten numerous mixed martial arts stars and lesser-known boxers.