History shows how bad unusual fights can turn out – and Mike Tyson against Jake Paul will not be the last

The fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul in November will not be the last carnival fight in an endless season of boxing events.

Somewhere else in the boxing universe, Floyd Mayweather is polishing his tools for another lucrative fight that means absolutely nothing.

There is no immediate end to the freak fights and shows and the desire for pretty much anything that can be summed up under the very loose but lucrative term “fighting.” There are so many offshoots of boxing and mixed martial arts that it is incredibly difficult to keep track.

All of this should come with a warning that health, safety and sanity are at stake in these crazy fights. Many years ago, Lucia Rijker, the best female boxer in the world at the time, fought a man from New Zealand named Somchai Jaidee and was spectacularly knocked out. The fight was brutal and put an end to any crazy fighting for a long, long time. This horrific fight was neither entertaining nor exciting and Rijker was simply and easily beaten by Jaidee, a decent but not spectacular Muay Thai fighter. It was a brave and bold move by Rijker – the final KO came from a punch, not a kick.

The crossover fight with Rijker should have sent a lasting and damning message, but there are still talks and stupid claims from boxers and promoters. Claressa Shields recently talked about boxing a man named Keith Thurman, insisting that with her greater skills she would win. The sheer stupidity went on for far too long; Thurman has only lost once in 32 fights as a professional and that was a close decision to Manny Pacquiao five years ago; Thurman would have made the Thai kickboxer's victory over Rijker look modest. Thankfully the noise died down as Thurman remained dignified despite the insults hurled at him. The absurd thing was that the story was not immediately dismissed; Shields has only stopped or knocked out three of the 15 women she has defeated.

Rijker was different in many ways and the women's boxing business in the 1990s had far fewer opportunities; if Rijker were boxing today, she would be making a million dollars a fight. It's important to remember that Rijker was undefeated in 17 fights, had knocked out 14 of her opponents as a boxer and had never lost as a kickboxer before the fatal fight and gruesome end. Rijker's unconscious body, laid with care and obvious desperation in her trainer's arms at the end, is a stark warning of how badly these crazy fights can go wrong.

Tyson and Mayweather are now established names in the ring and are not going anywhere. Paul is the master of the ring, he lost to Tommy Fury in Saudi Arabia last year, but he is a man with a lot of vision. Mayweather always shows up when a fight looks easy and financially good. As I said, no one in the freak fight business is in a hurry to retire.

There is no danger that Tyson, Paul or Mayweather will ever again be seen in a fight of the kind that ended Rijker's career. The Dutchwoman took a real risk, the male boxers are just making money.

Tyson vs. Paul is in Texas in November, and Mayweather returns on Saturday in Mexico City against an old rival, John Gotti III. Meanwhile, Rijker is still in blissful retirement exile, content to know how good she was.