ARLINGTON, Texas — The boos from the crowd, wanting more action, were getting louder again as Jake Paul dropped the gloves and bowed to 58-year-old Mike Tyson before the final bell.
Paying tribute to one of the biggest names in boxing history didn’t do much for the fans who packed the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys on Friday night.
In his first sanctioned professional fight in nearly 20 years, Paul won an eight-round unanimous decision over Tyson as the 27-year-old YouTuber-turned-boxer’s hits did not live up to the hype in his fight with the former heavyweight champion. I did it.
All the hate that had built up before the fight was gone, replaced by boos from embarrassed fans who expected more from a fight that had long ago raised many questions about its legitimacy.
One person gave Paul an 80-72 edge, while the other two called it 79-73.
“Let’s give it up for Mike,” Paul said in the ring, but didn’t get much reaction from the crowd, who began lining up before the decision was announced. “He’s the best he’s ever done. I respect him. I am inspired by him.”
Tyson followed Paul as soon as the opening bell rang, landing a few quick punches but not attempting much the rest of the way.
Fewer rounds than the typical 10 or 12, two-minute rounds instead of three, and heavier gloves designed to reduce the force of the punch did not do much to generate action.
Paul was more aggressive after Tyson’s quick attack early on, but his punching wasn’t very effective. There were quite a few wild swings and mistakes.
“I tried to hurt him a little bit,” said Paul, who improved to 11-1. “I was afraid that he would hurt me. I tried to hurt that person. I did my best. “I did my best.”
With a few exceptions, Tyson mostly sat back and waited for Paul to come to him. It was quite a contrast to the co-main event, another brawl between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, with Taylor retaining her undisputed super lightweight championship in another controversial decision.
Paul said he relaxed from the third round because he thought Tyson was tired and vulnerable.
“I wanted to show my fans a great side, but I didn’t want to hurt anyone who didn’t need to be hurt,” Paul said.
For Tyson, who fought Roy Jones Jr. in a much more entertaining exhibition in 2020, it was his first sanctioned fight since 2005. Paul started fighting about four years ago.
When asked what it meant to finish the fight, Tyson said, “I didn’t prove anything to anyone. I only proved it to myself.” “I am not the kind of person who wants to please the world. I am just satisfied with what I can do.”
It was originally scheduled to take place on July 20, but the fight was postponed after Tyson became ill on the plane and received treatment for a stomach ulcer. His record currently stands at 50-7 with 44 KOs.
Tyson punched Paul in the face during weigh-ins the night before the fight and traded insults at several hyped events before and after the fight.
By the end of the hostile fighting, the hatred was long gone.
“I really respect that guy,” Paul said. “If there was any violence between us, any kind of war, like after he hit me, I wanted to be aggressive and knock him down. As the rounds progressed, that kind of went away.”
The fight set a Texas record for combat sports, worth about $18 million, according to organizers, and Netflix had issues with its feed during the streaming platform’s first live combat sports event. Netflix has more than 280 million subscribers worldwide.
“This is the biggest event,” Paul said. “Netflix has over 120 million users. We took the site down.”
Celebrities included Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal, former NFL star Rob Gronkowski and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis, two of Tyson’s former enemies during his prime, greeted him in his locker room before the fight.
Tyson infamously bit Holyfield’s ear in their 1997 bout, and appeared to have one of his gloves in his mouth several times during the Paul bout. He was asked if there was a problem with the mouthpiece.
“I have a habit of biting my gloves,” Tyson said. “I have an obsession with biting things.”
“I heard that,” he answered in the interview.
Mario Barrios retained his WBC welterweight title with a draw with Abel Ramos. Barrios was in control early before Ramos dominated the middle rounds. Each scored a knockdown in the 12-round fight.
This was the first fight for the 29-year-old Barrios since he was named WBC welterweight champion when Terence Crawford began the process of moving up from the 147-pound class.
Barrios, 29-2-1, won the WBC interim title by unanimous decision over Yordenis Ugás last year. Ramos, 33, is 28-6-3.
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