Jake Paul defeated Mike Tyson at AT&T Stadium in a unanimous decision by judges after a somewhat underwhelming eight rounds.
The crowd booed as Paul theatrically dropped his gloves and bowed toward 58-year-old Tyson just before the final bell. The homage to one of boxing’s all-time greats did little to appease the fans who had gathered at the Dallas Cowboys’ home on Friday night.
The lackluster action during the fight failed to match the hype leading up to the Netflix event. The match featured the 27-year-old YouTuber-turned-boxer against the former heavyweight champion in Tyson’s first sanctioned professional fight in nearly two decades.
The animosity that fueled the pre-fight buildup dissipated, replaced by a chorus of boos from fans hoping for more excitement. Questions about the fight’s legitimacy lingered before and after the event. On the judges’ scorecards, Paul had a decisive lead, with one judge scoring it 80-72 and the others at 79-73.
“Let’s give it up for Mike,” Paul said post-fight, eliciting little reaction from a crowd already heading for the exits. “He’s the greatest to ever do it. I look up to him. I’m inspired by him.”
Tyson started strong, landing quick punches in the opening seconds but largely retreated into a defensive strategy for the remainder of the fight. The shorter, two-minute rounds and heavier gloves meant to reduce punch impact didn’t help create much action.
Paul, now 11-1, was more aggressive but struggled with accuracy, often missing wildly. “I was trying to hurt him a little bit,” Paul admitted. “I was scared he was going to hurt me. I did my best. I did my best.”
Tyson mostly waited for opportunities to counter, though they were rare. This deliberate pace was in stark contrast to the co-main event, where Katie Taylor retained her undisputed super lightweight championship in a hard-fought battle against Amanda Serrano.
Paul revealed he eased up around the third round, thinking Tyson was losing steam. “I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want to hurt somebody that didn’t need to be hurt,” he explained.
For Tyson, it marked his first sanctioned fight since 2005, following a more engaging exhibition with Roy Jones Jr. in 2020. Reflecting on the bout, Tyson said, “I didn’t prove nothing to anybody, only to myself. I’m not one of those guys that looks to please the world. I’m just happy with what I can do.”
The fight was initially scheduled for July 20 but was delayed when Tyson was treated for a stomach ulcer. His record now stands at 50-7, with 44 knockouts.
Adding to fans’ frustrations, technical issues plagued the live stream on Netflix. From the start of the undercard, viewers experienced freezing, audio dropouts, and pixelated images. While the platform didn’t entirely crash, as it had with the 2016 launch of Luke Cage, the glitches drew complaints.
“This is the biggest event,” Paul said, referencing the 120 million viewers reportedly tuning in on Netflix. “We crashed the site.”