Why Mike Tyson’s ageing athleticism was never a match for Jake Paul
Masters records in track and field illustrate why 58-year-old Tyson never stood a chance against the youthful Youtuber
For many, Jake Paul’s boxing victory over Mike Tyson last weekend was sadly predictable. If you had any doubt which way it would go, though, then you only had to imagine a similar head-to-head in athletics.
How would Michael Johnson, the former world 200m and 400m record-holder, fare now if he took on a half-decent sprinter half his age? At 57, Johnson is one year younger than Tyson, for example.
Even the best 400m runners in the world in the M55 age group only manage to run around 52 seconds dead. The world record, meanwhile, is nine seconds quicker. Of course, Paul is hardly the boxing equivalent of a 43-second 400m runner, but even if the 27-year-old’s fight skills were comparable to, say, a 48 or 49-second one-lap athlete, it would still leave the world’s No.1 M55 runner trailing by several seconds.
Looking at other athletics events, no M55 athlete has ever managed to beat two minutes for 800m, 4:10 for 1500m, 4:30 for the mile, 6.50m for long jump or 67m for javelin – all of which are performances that most good club level athletes can achieve.
Boxing requires plenty of technique, but it’s clear from these athletics stats that attributes like speed, strength and stamina all decline alarmingly with age, especially after the age of 40.
Tyson hit his peak in the late 1980s but how many track and field athletes from that period would hold their own now, in 2024, against good club athletes who are training seriously?
Alice Braham in 2006 (left) and 1995 (right) (Mark Shearman)
Life is a marathon not a sprint for Alice Braham
It is almost 30 years since Alice Braham finished top British under-20 at the World Cross Country Championships in Durham, so it is great to see the 48-year-old endurance athlete still running so well.
The transition from junior to senior ranks proved challenging to say the least for Braham and her fellow “cross-country class of ‘94” such as Heidi Moulder, Nicola Slater and Allie Outram. But despite spells on the sidelines with injuries and baby breaks, Braham has emerged in recent years as a fine masters runner and clocked an impressive 2:39:42 in the Berlin Marathon this autumn.
Coincidentally, Braham was the first athlete I interviewed for AW. Back in April 1995, she featured in our young athlete column alongside my first byline. A budding journalist herself, she later did a little writing for AW at the turn of the millennium before working in travel journalism and, more recently, as a personal trainer and coach.
Find out more about her in my colleague Tim Adams’ excellent feature here.
The days of tweeting appear numbered
Twitter (or should I say ‘X’) has been a useful tool for athletes and athletics fans over the years when it comes to breaking news in the sport, interesting or amusing opinions and even just simple results.
At the 2010 World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, I remember tweeting the results of leading Brits such as Mo Farah, Steph Twell, Kate Avery and Emelia Gorecka moments after they crossed the finish line. With the event not broadcast or streamed for UK viewers, nor with any live results at that stage courtesy of the organisers, Twitter was one of the quickest and easiest way to spread the news.
Those with long memories will also remember the brilliant spoof account “Charles van Comedy” around the time of the London Olympics, to name just one example.
Times change, though. It’s been noticeable that lots of elite athletes have gradually gravitated toward Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Why? Slowly over the years, Twitter has become tarnished with too many unpleasant posts. Elon Musk’s recent ownership together with his political ties with Donald Trump has been the final straw for many, too, triggering an exodus of sorts to the good ship “Bluesky”.
It will be interesting to see whether Bluesky gains any traction or whether it will follow in the footsteps of Periscope, Insta Threads and other platforms that have failed to pass the test of time.
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