IN HIS classic 1967 work, The Society of the Spectacle, French Marxist theorist, Guy Debord, has this to say: “The spectacle presents itself as a vast inaccessible reality that can never be questioned. Its sole message is: What appears is good; what is good appears.”

Watching the spectacle of a 58-year-old Mike Tyson’s attempt last weekend to convince himself and the world that he is still someone to be taken seriously in a boxing ring was more than painful — it was dreadful.

There he was, in front of 60,000 spectators (mugs) at the Dallas Cowboys’ Stadium in Texas — laying waste to not only his legacy, but more importantly his dignity. That his opponent in this spectacle of cringe was 27-year-old social media influencer, Jake Paul, merely heightened the sadness involved in what was a slow-motion car crash.