Mike Tyson is Insulted He's Not in the Nonexistent New Punch-Out Game

You might recall that earlier, we reported that Punch-Out would be making its way to the Switch virtual console, which would be using the edited version of the game that replaced the once-titular Mike Tyson with Mr. Dream. Well, the new games that wind up on the Nintendo virtual console aren’t generally the kind of thing the world at large really notices, but apparently, this little nugget has… and it’s caused Mike Tyson (as in the real-life boxer) more than a little confusion, it seems.

heard @Nintendo was doing the new “Punch Out” without even contacting me. it wont be the same. my knockouts made the game. thats whack.

So… here’s the thing.

For one, there is absolutely no evidence that there’s a new Punch-Out game coming out, and if there was, I’m pretty sure Nintendo wouldn’t have rung Mike Tyson out specifically to tell him he’s not going to be in it. That would be a weird, weird flex.

For two, since the release of the very original Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out, Nintendo has released three other Punch-Out games, 1985’s Super Punch-Out!!, 1994’s Super Punch-Out!!, and the Wii version Punch-Out!! From 2009. None of those games had Mike Tyson in them either. So this seems like a weird time to start protesting, Mike.

For three, Mike Tyson raped a person. And as far as I’m concerned, you lose the right to complain about not showing up in video games when you’re a rapist.

Anyway. Mike’s tweet is full of people who do not bother to correct him, hilariously misunderstand their relationship with this man, or encourage him to participate in their projects. So I don’t think this problem is going to sort itself out. Nor is it exactly necessary. I think Punch-Out!! is just fine without Mike Tyson, and it’s good that Nintendo agrees.

That’s news.