YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul defeated former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson via unanimous decision in their highly anticipated professional bout on Friday night in Arlington, Texas.
Fighting in front of 72,300 fans at AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, Paul controlled most of the fight against Tyson, winning via unanimous decision, after all three judges ruled in his favor with scores of 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73.
With the victory, Paul improves to 11-1 in his professional career, including seven knockouts, and becomes the sixth fighter to defeat the Hall of Famer in his career.
“First and foremost Mike Tyson, it’s such an honor,” Paul told Tyson after the match. “He’s the G.O.A.T. I look up to him, I’m inspired by him, and we wouldn’t be here today without him. This man is an icon and it’s just an honor to be able to fight him.”
The opening rounds were fairly tame, as the two boxers got acclimated to each other’s fight styles.
Tyson, who hadn’t fought in a professional bout in 19 years, came out aggressively in the third round, lunging forward with hard punches and clipping Paul early. However, Paul responded several moments later, catching Tyson with several well thrown punches, appearing to rock the former heavyweight champion.
The 58-year-old started to show signs of fatigue for the first time in the match and became stationary. He never displayed the dips, slips or the explosions forward with haymakers that once earned him 44 knockouts.
Roy Jones Jr., whom Tyson last fought in an exhibition in November 2020, was on the broadcast panel and noted Tyson’s lack of movement. “I don’t like Mike’s legs. I don’t like Mike’s legs at all.”
Paul continued to take control of the fight from there, landing his combinations, and giving Tyson trouble with his jabs. Tyson showed bursts of energy throughout the later rounds but never proved to be a real threat.
The pair were originally scheduled to fight in July this year, but it was postponed when Tyson experienced an ulcer flare up on a flight.
Tyson was asked after the fight if he felt like he proved to the world that he could go the distance, despite his age.
“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,” Tyson said.
In his professional career, Tyson was known for his brutal knockouts, winning in emphatic fashion against legends such as Michael Spinks and Larry Holmes. His last professional victory was in February 2003 when he defeated Clifford Etienne with a first-round knockout. His last fight was an exhibition bout against Jones Jr. in November 2020, which finished as a draw.
Friday’s bout was perhaps the most high-profile fight to date for Paul, who had an unconventional introduction to boxing, which he said started “as a whole YouTube extravaganza” of people challenging him and his brother Logan.
In January 2020, Paul entered the ring for his first professional fight, beating YouTuber Ali Eson Gib by technical knockout. Since his debut, he has gone on to defeat retired basketball player Nate Robinson and former MMA legends Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva and Nate Diaz.
In February last year, Paul suffered his first loss at the hands of Tommy Fury, the younger brother of former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
Paul bounced back from the loss with a unanimous decision win over retired UFC fighter Diaz. In his past few fights, he defeated professional boxers Andre August and Ryan Borland, as well as bare-knuckle boxing champion Mike Perry.
Netflix viewers report widespread issues streaming fight
Friday night’s fight was Netflix’s first live-boxing event, that included seven action-packed bouts.
However, viewers on social media reported throughout the night that they were having trouble watching the event on the streaming platform. Some of the issues included buffering delays, lags, and trouble loading the fight.
According to DownDetector, around 90,000 viewers reported outages in the hour leading up to the fight.
Some social media viewers posted images of their frozen TV screens, and others of the spinning loading wheel, saying they had to reload the app in order to watch it.
Another reported problem was sound from the broadcast, most notably during an interview with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. As he was speaking with other analysts, Jones’ microphone didn’t seem to be working, making it hard for viewers to hear what he was saying.
Netflix declined to comment on the issues.
“This is the biggest event,” Paul said on the success of the bout. “Over 120 million people on Netflix. We crashed the site.”
The streaming platform will next show two NFL games on Christmas Day, after signing a three-season deal with the league. Also starting in 2025, WWE’s weekly “Raw” show will be featured on the platform.
Thrilling co-main event ends in controversy
In the co-main event, it was the second installment of Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano. The crowd and commentators erupted into disbelief and boos when Taylor was awarded a unanimous decision victory.
The two fighters put on a masterclass, Serrano being the aggressor, and Taylor lunging forward with power shots, often clashing heads with the challenger. In the eighth round, the champion was deducted a point after her fourth ruled headbutt.
Serrano seemed to be in control, and was blindsided by the decision. After the fight, Serrano called Taylor a “dirty fighter.” According to Compubox, Serrano outlanded the champion 324-217.
This story has been updated with additional information.