1 week Ago By Lewis Thompson
Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson lacked the one thing the whole world tuned in for – punches. Heavyweight legend Tyson was beaten by YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul on points in a poor and widely-criticised fight on Friday night. Tyson landed just 18 punches during the record-breaking bout, which was streamed to Netflix's 280million subscribers and watched by 70,000 in attendance at the AT&T Stadium, in Arlington, Texas .
The 58-year-old threw a total of 97 blows, but landed just 18% of his attempted strikes. Tyson failed to land any punches in both the fourth and sixth rounds too, while only landing two in the fifth and one in the last. Paul’s output was much higher than Tyson - who is 31 years his senior - as he threw a total of 278 punches, landing 78 of them, meaning his success rate was 28%.
It was an uncomfortable watch, with leading figures from the boxing world such as Gervonta Davis and Tony Bellew leading an outcry against the event. Four-division world champion Terence Crawford had some strong words on the encounter, adding how relieved he was that Tyson didn’t suffer severe damage. “I love Mike Tyson , but they [the Netflix commentators] giving him too much credit,” Crawford said via X on Saturday morning.
“He looked like trash. To train that long and only throw 97 punches the whole fight is crazy. “I’m glad he didn’t get hurt out there.
” Boxing legend Tyson was met with a stunning ovation as he made his way to the ring for his first professional bout since suffering a defeat to Kevin McBride in July 2005. Paul, on the other hand, was jeered when made the ring 'drive', as he emerged in a customised green Chevvy with brother Logan Paul . It was, however, the heavyweight veteran who put his foot down and marched towards 'The Problem Child' from the opening bell, but ultimately started to weaken as time ticked on.
Paul used his jab well to catch Tyson from the outside as he started to find his rhythm at the end of the opening rounds. As the fight went on, Paul landed a few shots that wobbled Tyson, who clearly looked compromised, but the latter was able to stay on his feet. ‘Iron Mike’ was unable to go through his paces and Paul dictated the pace during most of the fight as Tyson began breathing heavily in the final period.
Tyson, unsurprisingly, looked a shadow of himself as he began using a familiar habit by biting his gloves in the later rounds. However, the ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’ did fight right through to the final bell until Paul was eventually crowned the winner with scorecards at 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73 in his favour. English former professional boxer Spencer Oliver left the event underwhelmed, revealing many fans did not even bother sticking around until the end.
"He [Tyson] had a good first round and I was quite impressed with that,” he told talkSPORT exclusively. “We saw a little bit of the old Mike Tyson - and then it all went down the hill from there. It was a little bit underwhelming if I'm honest towards the end.
"I think the crowd felt that as well. I mean, you started seeing them leaving before the result was announced, which was a foregone conclusion. The crowd was still leaving in their droves.
" Oliver added: "I think we can safely say that the last time we're going to see Mike Tyson in a boxing ring again. "What we wanted was Mike Tyson to knock Jake Paul out. Unfortunately, that never happened.
Jake Paul never engaged in it and [the fight] became a bit of a snore fest, a bore fest, if you like. "Jake Paul now will be challenging other people and talking about beating the baddest man on the planet and all that sort of rubbish. "But the reality is he beat a 58 year old guy who, clearly, the best days had left him.
" Tyson’s best round in terms of punches came in the fifth, when he landed five of his 21 blows, meanwhile Paul had an explosive third round, landing 16 of his 44 total blows. Stats appeared on a graphic during the fight which prompted as one commentator said: “You look at the numbers and I hate to say it, but they’re kinda sad.” Fans across the world watching the action live on Netflix were also left disappointed.
One wrote: “Mike Tyson’s next contract should call for him to land at least 25 punches.” While another said: “It was sad to just see a legend like Mike Tyson not able to do much inside the ring.” And a third added: “I’d make a joke but I’m afraid it won’t land.
” Overall, it was a poor display from Tyson, who took a defeat to a YouTuber-turned-boxer on his record. Tyson should now be happily retired, having made more than a healthy amount of money from the heavyweight clash, and his incredible, generational legacy still obviously intact..
