Jake Paul easily beats Mike Tyson in Netflix spectacle

In a display that fell short of even the most measured expectations that come with gimmick fights, Jake Paul breezed past 58-year-old Mike Tyson on Friday night in a fight that was heavy on nostalgia and bombast but lacking in any kind of competition. satisfaction.

Tyson landed just 18 punches in eight slow rounds. Paul, the 27-year-old influencer who is much better at promotion than boxing, followed suit by putting them both to the end for a decision. By then, they were both certainly millions richer and the fight that didn’t matter in the first place turned out to be one that fans wanted to quickly forget.

It was also a mixed night for Netflix, which streamed the fight to its hundreds of millions of subscribers without charging extra but struggled to keep up with clearly high demand and widespread complaints about freezing, buffering and resolution issues.

“I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want to hurt anyone who didn’t need to be hurt,” Paul told reporters afterwards.

For about 60 seconds, it looked like Tyson might thrill the packed AT&T Stadium crowd in Arlington, Texas, with a momentary flash of the presence he had during his heyday in the ’80s and early ’90s. But for the next fifteen minutes, plus a few pauses for deep breaths, he looked exactly like a man approaching sixty who hadn’t fought a professional boxing match in nineteen years.

Paul spent much of the fight dancing around Tyson. He would often drop his arms and taunt the legendary knockout artist in an attempt to get close. But Tyson never built up an offense and went long stretches without even throwing punches. Paul provided him with basic combinations and some crisp left hooks, but even his glancing blows drew some reaction from a clearly impressed crowd looking for some sort of highlight.

Afterwards, Paul said it was an honor to share the ring with Tyson and called the former champion the GOAT.

As for the exhausted Tyson, he said he was “completely satisfied” with his performance, while admitting he entered the fight with an injury. He declined to elaborate further.

He did say he might like to fight again, and offered to fight Paul’s brother, Logan Paul, who was in the ring. Logan Paul, a WWE wrestler who had a 2021 exhibition with Floyd Mayweather Jr., shot back a surprised look and quickly responded, “I’ll kill you, Mike.”

Netflix declined to comment on the technical issues, which arose in the lead-up to the Tyson-Paul fight and particularly undermined the most exciting fight on the card: Katie Taylor’s controversial victory over Amanda Serrano. It was Taylor’s second victory over her rival and a high-profile follow-up to their first match in April 2022, which sold out Madison Square Garden. Serrano, clearly upset by the judges’ scores, tearfully vowed to continue chasing big moments for her sport.

Conversely, almost no one will call for a main event rematch between Paul and Tyson. The louder calls will almost certainly mean Tyson steps out of the ring for good. And perhaps for Paul to fight legitimate competitors active in the sport.

It is of course unclear whether Paul wants to do that. His 11-1 record is padded by wins over undersized competition, and his only loss was to Tommy Fury, a boxer but better known as a reality TV personality and the half-brother of heavyweight star Tyson Fury.

Paul didn’t call up any new opponents, but did say he was the route for boxers to make big bucks, repeating his claim that he could deliver that even to Canelo Alvarez, who is arguably the sport’s most bankable star right now is.

Paul claimed in the lead-up to the fight that he earned $40 million for the Tyson fight, although actual earnings for both headliners were not made public. Clearly, entering the ring was a victory for both men, even if their actions hardly qualified as a fight.

“There was a point where I thought, ‘He’s not really interested,’” Paul said, adding, “I could just tell his age was showing a little bit.”

Tyson, one of the sport’s biggest stars when he was at his peak, looked like a shadow of the boxer who last fought professionally in 2005. Even Tyson quitting on his stool before the seventh round against journeyman Kevin McBride.

Still, he opened the door for Friday night’s fight with an exhibition four years ago against Roy Jones Jr., a draw that featured Paul on the undercard early in his boxing foray.

By Friday night, Tyson’s wear and tear was evident. YouTuber boxer Paul became more comfortable with his technique and used his three-inch height advantage to keep Tyson out of reach.

While it was clear that Tyson was training significantly, as evidenced by his flashes of power in the first few rounds, he had little hope of matching Paul’s endurance.

Just six months ago, Tyson suffered a medical emergency during a flight that left him vomiting blood and ultimately losing 26 pounds, he said in the lead-up to the fight. While the eight-inch ulcer in his stomach didn’t prevent the rescheduled fight, its effects clearly played a major role Friday.

The fight was fought with 14-ounce gloves – instead of the traditional 10-ounce gloves – over the course of eight two-minute rounds, as opposed to the typical twelve three-minute rounds for men’s championship fights.

At Thursday’s weigh-in, Tyson punched Paul hard after Paul appeared to step on one of his feet. Paul said later that same day: “It’s personal now. He must die.”

Paul joins a list that includes Buster Douglas, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Danny Williams and the aforementioned McBride as the men to beat Tyson.

Tyson’s loss went beyond his professional record, dropping his career mark to 50-7.

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(Photo: Al Bello / Getty Images for Netflix © 2024)