Why did Mike Tyson bite his gloves? The real reason behind his boxing ‘tap’ during the Jake Paul fight

Mike Tyson has moved to clarify why he is biting his gloves after his bizarre move turned heads during his Netflix fight with Jake Paul on Friday night.

Tyson, 58, went the distance with 27-year-old YouTuber boxer Paul but was easily defeated in his first professional fight in almost 20 years.

And fans thought they noticed a problem for Iron Mike during the fight and thought he had a problem with his mouthpiece.

The boxing icon was repeatedly bitten on his glove as he moved towards Paul during each of the eight rounds of the fight.

But Tyson simply clarified: “I have a habit of biting my glove when I fight, yes.” Journalist Ariel Helwani highlighted this topic, adding, “I have a biting fixation.” Helwani joked, “I heard about that…I don’t want to know more.”

Tyson famously bit off a chunk of Evander Holyfield’s ear during their fight that shook boxing 27 years ago.

Mike Tyson was spotted biting his gloves during his fight with Jake Paul on Friday night

Tyson was disqualified for biting off Holyfield’s ear during the 1997 rematch

After Holyfield won their first match via 11th round TKO in 1996, the pair faced off again the following year at MGM Grand. The rematch would be infamously nicknamed The Bite Fight after Iron Mike bit Holyfield’s ear, ending the fight with a disqualification in the third round.

Paul chose to reminisce about that infamous incident this week, wearing a $100,000 earmuff to show off his wealth and mock Tyson before the fight.

“I can’t get my damn bit off on Friday night,” Paul said as he showed the bit to the camera. “So I have my diamond studded earmuffs there.”