What did you expect from Jake Paul and Mike Tyson? An all-time classic?
For all the hoopla leading up to the one-of-a-kind boxing extravaganza, Paul and Tyson delivered what was largely expected as 58-year-old Tyson looked his age, while Paul was all too comfortable in there with a man 31 years older than him. The result? A unanimous decision in Paul’s favor, with the judges scoring the fight 80-72, 79-73, 79-73.
Paul vs. Tyson headlined Friday night’s Netflix boxing event from the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
For the first two rounds, there appeared to be a faint chance that Paul vs. Tyson could be interesting. But after coming out aggressively to start Round 3, Tyson quickly looked like 58-year-old well past his glory days of the 1980s and 90s.
Perhaps realizing just how much of a speed advantage he had over Tyson, Paul was more than willing to work from distance and land jabs and straight punches as he pleased.
By the seventh and eighth (final) round, the 70,000-plus fans in attendance were booing. Still, Tyson was pleased with being able to go the distance.
“I’m absolutely happy, yes,” Tyson said afterward. “… I didn’t prove nothing to anybody, only to myself.”
Said Paul of his performance: “I was trying to hurt him a little bit. I was scared he was gonna hurt me. I was scared to hurt him. I did my best.”
The way the fight played out, with Tyson looking old and slow against a much younger opponent, is why so many notable pundits were against it. But this might not be the last time we see Tyson in the ring.
“I don’t think so,” Tyson said when asked if he was finished.
For more on the fight, visit MMA Junkie’s hub for Paul vs. Tyson.
