First, I did not watch the fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul because the idea that a 27 year old young man should fight a 58 year senior citizen makes no sense except for one thing: money. On that money, I congratulate both Paul and Tyson for a great day at work. It is rumoured that Tyson will pack close to $20 million, and that is amazing.
But apart from that, let us appreciate what it means to even have the capacity to enter a fighting ring at 58 years. Tyson was largely peerless at his peak and reigned as a world champion. He recorded more than 40 knockouts and was nicknamed “Iron Mike” or “Kid Dynamite” because he was indeed an iron and a dynamite in the ring. He ended fights in seconds, and was regarded as one of the most talented boxers of his generation. He gave us: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face”.
On the fight sheet I checked, he landed just 18 punches. Possibly, he was trying to survive the rounds. Simply, even the iron and dynamite cannot cheat nature. That takes me to what it means to age, and a look deep into our careers.
You wake up and you see you cannot do certain things that used to be easy and simple. You pick up a book to read, and from nowhere sleep knocks. But in college, we used to leave the hostel at 2am to prepare for an exam coming up at 9am, agile and fresh, to go for 3 hours of academic examination. You can do that over days, and it was like nothing. But these days, how far?
Please, this fight must remind everyone of the fight of careers. The Most Valuable Employee one day will fade, and will be found unproductive, no matter how he or she tries, because time has passed. The real deal is this: when that happens, are we prepared for that phase of our careers because your self-will and -determination will not be enough because nature is knocking? Yes, we cannot be “iron” or “dynamite” forever in our careers.
