The YouTuber-turned-boxer and 58-year-old former heavyweight champion battled it out in front of more than 70,000 fans at the AT&T Stadiumin Arlington Texas, with many more millions tuning into Netflix in what has been billed as one of the most-watched boxing fights of all time.
But Paul, 27, faced widespread criticism for the decision to pull Tyson, who is 31 years his elder, out of retirement to hold the fight – and the opinion did not change after the Brooklyn-born heavyweight looked every one of his 58 years during the eight-round bout, which ended in a unanimous points victory for Paul.
Fans booed the contest throughout, with many turning for the exit as it failed to provide much action after Tyson only landed just 18 of the 97 punches he threw after looking gassed after two rounds.
“What a sad watch,” Paul’s YouTube rival KSI wrote on Instagram. “Whole thing was sad ... Mike is twice the age of Jake Paul. It was never ever gonna be close. I can’t believe that this elderly abuse was even sanctioned. Just disgusting.”
While Katie Taylor’s victory over Amanda Serrano was applauded as one of the fights of the year on the undercard, the boxing world derided the main event, with unified welterweight champion Terence Crawford saying Tyson looked like “trash” and former cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew calling out the public for giving credence to the fight.
“I love Mike Tyson, but they [are] giving him too much credit,” two-weight undisputed champion Crawford wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“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.”
“We are all to blame for this man [Jake Paul]! We are all talking and watching. We have to stop this fool. Don’t tune into him until he fights someone who is fit, healthy and not a grandfather,” Bellew added on social media.
Jake Paul (left) and Mike Tyson hug after their heavyweight bout at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Photo / Getty Images
“Any proper boxing people helping Paul need to look at themselves. This is just sad.”
One of the fight’s biggest critics was boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, who walked out after his fighter Taylor beat Serrano, who is managed by Paul, for the second time.
“I didn’t really watch it, I was in Katie Taylor’s changing room,” Hearn said. “I watched the first 30 seconds, which were quite entertaining.
“After that it was horrible to watch. It was hard to watch and it was always going to be like that.
“Mike came out like a raging bull, but after that he was gassed. Mike’s a legend and he showed a load of heart, but you just don’t need to see it.”
When asked why he did not go for the knockout, Paul said in the post-fight press conference: “There was a point where I was like, he is not really engaging back.
“So I don’t know if he is tired. I can just tell his age was showing a little bit. I just have so much respect for him and that war thing between us after he slapped me, I wanted to be aggressive, take him down and knock him out.
“But that kind of went away as the rounds went on. I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt.”
