Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez wasn’t the only one to take a loss on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Prior to Terence Crawford’s historic unanimous-decision victory at Allegiant Stadium, boxing legend Mike Tyson and video gamer MrBeast were enlisted by promoter Turki Al-Sheikh to hype the bout on social media.
The premise of the bit was doomed from the start.
‘Tyson is about to punch me, because thanks to Riyadh Season, Canelo-Crawford is about to happen,’ MrBeast (real name: James Donaldson) said alongside Tyson and Al-Sheikh. ‘It literally starts in an hour. So, after this, you need to go watch it.’
Riyadh Season is the annual festival of cultural and sporting events organized as part of the Saudi Vision 2030 campaign to promote economic, social and cultural diversity both inside and outside the Middle Eastern country. And like many Riyadh Season events, celebrity guests were on hand to lure social media followers over to the promoter’s broadcast partners – in this case, Netflix – which is where Tyson and MrBeast came in.
‘To raise awareness, I’m gonna take a punch from Mike Tyson,’ MrBeast told the grinning Tyson. ‘Whenever you’re ready.’
MrBeast, Mike Tyson and Turki Al-Sheikh work to promote Canelo-Crawford on Saturday
Tyson erupted with laughter after delivering the body shot to MrBeast, who toppled over
Wearing a boxing mitt on his left hand, Tyson wasn’t waiting for the green light from MrBeast. Rather, the former heavyweight champion was already winding up for a body shot, which he promptly delivered in the millisecond after MrBeast stopped talking.
As expected, the punch landed like a bomb, sending MrBeast toppling over as Tyson erupted in laughter.
Al-Sheikh quickly turned his attention MrBeast, who needed to cover his eyes for a moment as he struggled to regain his breath and return to his feet.
And outside of the cackling 59-year-old, the only audio caught by microphones was MrBeast’s stunned voice intermittently saying: ‘OK…’
Tyson did help MrBeast to his feet and rubbed his shoulder a bit, but nothing could wipe the smile from the boxing legend’s face.
Mike Tyson attends Netflix’s Canelo v Crawford Fight Night with his wife, Lakiha Spicer
MrBeast appeared to be OK after a few moments, which is a relief because the billionaire and YouTube star suffers from Crohn’s Disease – a chronic inflammatory bowel condition caused by issues with a patient’s immune system.
Still, according to a 2023 study published by the National Library of Medicine, the 27-year-old MrBeast might want to go see a doctor for several examinations just to be on the safe side.
‘Traumatic intestinal injury in patients with Crohn’s disease represent both diagnostic and management dilemma,’ read the study authored by Dr. Mohammed Foula. ‘Inaccurate interpretation of radiological signs may lead to a delayed or missed diagnosis and surgical intervention.
‘The clinical condition should be carefully addressed and integrated with radiological findings. Abdominal CT scan should be routinely repeated, within 24 hours, for such patients, regardless absence of symptoms or signs suggestive of intestinal perforation.’
Actor Jason Statham and Turki bin Abdul Mohsen Al-Sheikh watch Saturday’s fight card
MrBeast didn’t let the body shot distract him from the evening’s fight card and was later seen sitting alongside Al-Sheikh, actor Jason Statham, UFC president Dana White and actor Mark Wahlberg.
Although his initial celebrity came from video games, the popular YouTube content creator who has moved into product endorsements and a number of other business ventures and charitable efforts. MrBeast has more than 400 million subscribers across all platforms, according to multiple reports.
And like Tyson, who famously lent his name to Nintendo’s ‘Mike Tyson’s Punch-out’ in 1987, MrBeast has helped to mainstream video games and gamers alike.
