Twenty-seven year-old YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul won an eight-round unanimous decision against 58-year old former heavyweight champion, Mark Tyson.
Paul dropped his gloves before the final bell and bowed toward Tyson paying homage to one of the biggest names in boxing history but it didn’t do much for the estimated 72,000 fans who filled the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys on November 15.
All the hate from the pre-fight buildup was gone, replaced by boos from bewildered fans hoping for more from a fight that drew plenty of questions about its legitimacy long beforehand.
The fight wasn’t close on the judge’s cards, with one giving Paul an 80-72 edge and the other two calling it 79-73.
“Let’s give it up for Mike, Paul said in the ring, not getting much response from a crowd that started filing out before the decision was announced. “He’s the greatest to ever do it. I look up to him. I’m in- spired by him.”
Tyson came after Paul immediately after the opening bell and landed a couple of quick punches but didn’t try much after.
Paul was more aggressive after the quick burst from Tyson in the opening seconds, but the punching wasn’t very efficient. There were quite a few wild swings and misses. “I was trying to hurt him a little bit,” said Paul, who is 11-1 with seven knockouts. “I was scared he was going to hurt me. I was trying to hurt him. I did my best. I did my best.”
Tyson mostly sat back and waited for Paul to come to him, with a few exceptions. Paul, who said an ankle injury limited his sparring sessions in the final weeks of training camp, said he eased up starting in about the third round because he thought Tyson was tired and vulnerable.
“I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want to hurt somebody that didn’t need to be hurt,” Paul said. It was the first sanctioned fight since 2005 for Tyson, who fought Roy Jones Jr. in a much more entertaining exhibition in 2020. Paul started fighting a little more than four years ago.
“I didn’t prove nothing to anybody, only to myself,” Tyson said when asked what it meant to complete the fight. “I’m not one of those guys that looks to please the world. I’m just happy with what I can do.”
According to reports, Paul’s payday was $40 million, compared with $20 million for Tyson.
