Mike Tyson's Next Best Fights After Loss vs. Jake Paul in Netflix Superfight

Despite a lackluster performance, Mike Tyson didn't sound like a guy who was done boxing after a unanimous decision loss to Jake Paul on Netflix Friday night.

The 58-year-old was easily outworked by the social media influencer throughout the eight-round fight. Even with shorter rounds and 14-ounce gloves, Tyson wasn't able to keep up with the 27-year-old's pace and certainly couldn't catch his opponent to land any offense of his own.

Despite those realities, Tyson said he didn't think he was done boxing in his post-fight interview and even went on to challenge Logan Paul, Jake Paul's brother, to a fight.

Ideally, Tyson would take the money he made from this massive Netflix bout and ride off into the sunset. But we all know how good fighters are at walking away when it's time. We also know that crossover and nostalgia-based fights are going to have a market.

With that in mind we've come up with three possibilities for Tyson to pursue next that don't involve fighting someone that is half his age.

Tyson isn't the only heavyweight from the 90s and early 2000s who could generate interest with a comeback. Lennox Lewis has remained in the public eye and would make waves if he were to come out of retirement.

The 59-year-old retired back in 2003 after a sixth-round TKO win over Vitali Klitschko to walk away with the WBC and IBO heavyweight belts.

Before that, he famously knocked out Mike Tyson in the eighth round of their 2002 matchup. Lewis is the rare fighter who actually walked away while on top of the sport, but he's remained a vocal element of boxing.

He spoke out in favor of his former foe in the lead-up to the Paul fight.

"Mike Tyson's not that old. Don't take him too softly. We're one year apart," he said in a television interview (h/t Toby Morgan of Seconds Out). "You can fight somebody like that and do well, because the person you're fighting is not a true fighter and there's a hundred things that you've forgotten that he's learning."

If Tyson is interested in getting a chance to show off his skills against someone his own age, then Lewis has to be on the shortlist of opponents he would contact. He struggled to get around Lewis's jab back then, but the ravages of time could have a lot to say about the dynamic between the two.

Mike Tyson's next fight (if he wants one) doesn't have to come from the boxing world. If Jake Paul has proven anything it's that there is an appetite for seeing non-boxers try their hand at the sweet science.

Tyson made a name for himself from the absolute destruction he wrought as a young phenom tearing through the heavyweight division. A little later, Vitor Belfort earned his reputation by stacking up knockout victories in the early UFC and getting the nickname "The Phenom".

Belfort's MMA days are now over. A knockout loss to Lyoto Machida in 2018 marked the end of his career. However, he's already dabbled in boxing as a second act. The 47-year-old beat fellow MMA fighter Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza in a boxing match last year.

The more important result, from a narrative perspective with Tyson, is the fact that Belfort scored a knockout victory over Evander Holyfield back in 2021.

Tyson had a storied rivalry with Holyfield. "The Real Deal" beat Tyson via 11th-round TKO and followed up with the rematch in which Tyson was infamously disqualified for biting Holyfield's ear.

A third fight with Holyfield could gain some traction, but we already saw that Holyfield doesn't have much chin left. Giving Tyson a fight against the man who beat Holyfield could have some narrative juice.

Mike Tyson's storied career is full of ups and downs. The embattled legend experienced the dizzying heights of becoming the youngest heavyweight champion of the world and the lows of being on the wrong side of boxing's biggest upset.

Of course, we're talking about the 1990 bout in Tokyo in which Douglas stunned the world with a 10th-round knockout of Tyson.

Surprisingly, there was never a rematch. In today's era where rematches are fairly common it's likely that the two would have met again. However, Douglas was knocked out by Holyfield and never really returned to prominence.

He would certainly find himself back in the limelight and taking home a bag if he were to run it back with Iron Mike. He has publicly stated his interest in another go-round as recently as 2020.

"Sure, I would welcome the opportunity," Douglas told USA TODAY Sports. "Being a prizefighter all those years and still feeling pretty good today, you always feel you got one more fight in you."

If Tyson is going to continue fighting, it shouldn't be against men who are less than half his age. A bout against the likes of Douglas where he could avenge one of the only losses of his career would be much easier to get behind.