Youtuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul left a permanent stain on two-time heavyweight champion Mike Tyson’s boxing legacy with a tedious points win in front of 70,000 frustrated fans in Texas – and millions watching the controversial bout on streaming powerhouse Netflix.
Tyson, as you might expect from a man aged 58 and having not competed professionally in 19 years, was a shadow of his old self. Paul, 27, is a boxing novice but was too young and too athletic. He kept Tyson at range, landing jabs and accurate punches in an eight-round contest of two-minute rounds.
Tyson was slow and sluggish. He received a hero’s reception before the fight, but there were huge boos as the fight drew to a close. Some fans left before judges’ scores of 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73 were announced.
In an uncomfortable moment post-fight, Tyson, after his seventh pro loss in 57 bouts, called out Paul’s brother Logan and suggested he could fight again. There were question marks on the legitimacy of this fight and how seriously both men would take it, but Tyson said he “came to fight”.
Both men wore heavier gloves with extra padding as part of the conditions set by the Texas commission, who sanctioned it as a pro fight – a decision which looks even more ludicrous post-fight.
Lighter gloves would have made no difference, no punches thrown even came close to a knockout. Tyson landed only 18 punches in the entire fight, compared to Paul’s 78. Paul made his celebrity name by posting prank videos online and amassing a social media following of 70 million before venturing into boxing.
He wins his 11th pro fight, having lost to Tommy Fury last year, and once again reiterated his desire to fight Mexican superstar Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. “He knows he wants a payday so he knows where the money is at,” Paul said.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but the result is no surprise and will embolden those critics who felt it made a mockery of boxing. Tyson said his heart was not in the sport following a loss to Kevin McBride in 2005. From early on it was clear this was a man nearing his sixties, who still carried a little power but no stamina.
The general feeling was if Tyson was to win he would need to knock Paul out early and, though he landed a right hand in the first, Paul started connecting cleanly with jabs and wobbled Tyson with a left hand in the third. Paul – wearing the world’s most expensive shorts – began to pepper a man 31 years his senior.
Tyson, a black brace over his right knee, was making Paul miss with some head speed at times. He lunged in with a hook which missed by at least a foot in the fifth, illustrating just how much of a difference the age was making.
The veteran felt more damage in the seventh round as a left hook from Paul landed on the temple. By this point, most fans seemed eager to hear the final bell.
Underwhelming bout but spectacle for fans
The event was streamed to Netflix’s global reach of 283 million subscribers worldwide. The bout may have underwhelmed, but a show was put on for those in attendance. With Paul reported to make £30m and Tyson half that, no expense was spared for a fight generating such ludicrous amount of money.
Paul was driven to the ring in a customised green car to the tune of Phil Collins’ In the Air Tonight. His brother, WWE wrestler and fellow social media star Logan Paul, sat beside him. On the back seat was a pigeon which he tried to gift Tyson – known to keep racing pigeons at his home – during fight week.
Fans remained standing throughout as an ear-splitting, pulsating roar for Tyson reverberated around the stadium, home to the Dallas Cowboys NFL team. Dressed in his trademark all black, he strutted to the ring sporting the same stern look he has had all week.
More than £14.1m was recouped from ticket sales alone, with one VIP group package which included a ringside seat and photographs with the fighters costing as much as £1.6m.
Boxing royalty Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Roy Jones Jr and Andre Ward formed part of the television broadcast – and stars of Netflix shows such as Cobra Kai watched from ringside, alongside NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal.
The final time we see Tyson in a ring?
Paul’s insistence he could beat Mexican superstar Alvarez is a claim which seems even more preposterous after going the distance with a man who was in his prime more than three decades ago. For Tyson, perhaps the lure of the limelight was too much to stay away from, and the several millions also provided added motivation. Whatever his intention, for his safety and to discourage other former champions, hopefully the itch to get back in the ring has been scratched.
