After a month of promotion, a rescheduling and a lot of hype, former boxing great Mike Tyson finally stepped into the squared circle to face social media influencer Jake Paul last week. 

Those hoping for a comeuppance for the loudmouth Youtuber, courtesy of Iron Mike, were disappointed. So was anyone with a Netflix subscription or password who stayed up late and expected to see a competitive contest. Paul, in a lopsided decision defeated the sluggish former champion, later admitting that he took it easy on the 58-year-old after he detected that he was running low on energy midway through the fight.

“Yeah, definitely,” the 27-year-old said to a reporter when asked if he held back during the fight. “Definitely a bit. I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt.”

Tyson’s defeat was viewed as another loss for Black Americans, by some online observers, who compared the fight to the results of the recent election. Perhaps they viewed the loss as yet another talented African American defeated by a marginally talented white man?

A meme of a tearful Kamala Harris being held by a dejected Tyson made the rounds. Which was a little ironic, since Tyson is a Trump supporter.

It’s true that Tyson’s defeat did provoke a degree of sadness among his fans and supporters of a certain age, but I don’t think it was connected to the political grieving that’s going on. Tyson was a cultural icon during his time as champion. His name was known by people who never watched the brutal sport. In his prime, he was a ferocious force. Twelve of his bouts were over before the first round. He became the youngest heavyweight champion in history at 20 and earned a rep for devastating knockouts. He was young, gifted and the best at what he did. That’s how we remember him and how many of us prefer to remember ourselves.

Seeing Tyson struggle in the ring and take blows from a much younger and faster fighter was a reminder of our own mortality. We’re not the people we were when Tyson was laying out opponents on the canvas back in the day – and neither is he. Those days are gone and they aren’t coming back. Any attempt to pretend they never left, could lead to embarrassment or getting hurt. (Take my word for it, if I attempt another Michael Jackson leg kick, I might as well put a new hip on layaway.)

It’s a hard lesson to learn. Tyson found out the hard way, but the cost was offset by the $20 million he received, so he’ll be OK. The rest of us can take from this “bout” that we should learn to accept the changes that come with age and cherish the moments when we were at our best, rather than longing for them to return.