(Image via hollywoodreporter.com)
Volunteer Writer: Samantha McCarthy
Email: smccarthy12@umassd.edu
This past Friday night, 58-year-old world-famous boxer Mike Tyson faced Jake Paul, a well-known YouTuber and influencer who began training for his boxing career in August 2018.
AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, seated over 70,000 people to watch the event live, while 60 million households tuned in to watch live on Netflix.
Tyson ended his professional boxing career in 2005 but has competed in a series of exhibition fights since his retirement. Although his last fight was in 2020, and he is getting older, many were placing their bets on his win.
In his prime, Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion at age 20 and later unified all three major belts, making him the undisputed champion. His career record stands at 50-7 with 44 knockouts (KOs).
27-year-old Jake Paul, on the other hand, recently started his boxing career, with his first official fight in January 2020. His record currently stands 11-1, with seven KOs.
The fight between Tyson and Paul lasted all scheduled eight rounds, with a unanimous decision for Paul’s win by the judges. The final statistics for the fight were released shortly after, with Paul landing 78 total punches and Tyson only 18.
Additionally, Paul threw 278 punches, and Tyson only 97.
This was the most heavily bet-on fight in many years, with the seven-year-old sportsbook BetMGM receiving more bets, with higher stakes, than any other boxing match or MMA fight.
Many stood behind Tyson in this fight with the belief that ‘Iron Mike,’ the nickname he received while in his prime, would ring true. Tyson spent six months training for this fight, saying the night of that he expected a “vicious win.”
Tyson’s betting stood at +175, while Paul received less support from betters, with his odds at -225.
Online, many users held strong beliefs that Tyson would return to his prime and defeat Paul within the first few rounds.
“Tyson will flat line him,” user @u/urtechhatesyou posted on Reddit. Another user, @u/Sorry_Term3414, posted, “This is the one time I want Tyson to bite off an ear.”
Professionals in the boxing field also weighed in on the fight, with Terence Crawford, two-weight undisputed champion, writing, “I love Mike Tyson, but they [are] giving him too much credit,” on X. “He looked like trash, to train that long and only throw 97 punches the whole fight is crazy. I’m just glad he didn’t get hurt out there,” he continued.
After the fight’s results were announced, disappointment swept across those who tuned in. Evander Holyfield, one of Tyson’s former rivals, commented on the event, saying it “wasn’t a good one.”
With Tyson throwing minimal punches and Paul later announcing that he “didn’t want to hurt” Mike Tyson, many began to question the validity of the fight. Following the fight, Jake Paul told reporters, “I wanted to give fans a show, but I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt.”
But, the results were not in the internet’s favor. Social media platforms went wild after the results were announced, with many saying the fight was staged.
An alleged script for the fight was uploaded to X. It is not confirmed to be authentic.
Although the fight did not bring about the results many hoped for, the excitement building up to the event was successful.
The fight was officially announced in March of this year. Throughout the months leading up to the fight, the two would confront each other over social media, drawing attention.
Tyson uploaded a video of him training in March with the caption, “You still wanna f— with me?” and Paul promptly responded, “Yes, yes I do.”
After the fight had to be rescheduled due to Tyson’s health issues, the trash talk resumed with the new date set for November 15th. Again, Tyson and Paul went back and forth on X for the following weeks.
It is unconfirmed who Paul will fight next or if Tyson will ever return to the ring again.