Boxing champ Mike Tyson fought Youtuber Jake Paul in the ring on Nov. 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Despite the confident remarks of Tysons’ reassured victory, the tables turned in the fight, and Paul claimed victory. The fight was originally scheduled for July 20, 2024, but was postponed since Tyson was being treated for a stomach ulcer after falling ill on a flight.
In the opening rounds, things went rather smooth, as each boxer adapted to the other’s fighting styles. In the third round however, Tyson came out with fiery punches, clipping Paul repeatedly. Nonetheless, Paul quickly responded, giving multiple well-thrown punches back at the heavy-weight champion. Soon, Tyson started to show the first signs of fatigue, which gave Paul the advantage of the match. Paul soon controlled the match, landing combos and uncomfortable jabs. Tyson had eruptions of energy, but all quickly dissipated, and weren’t seen as a threat to Paul. Eventually, via-unanimous vote, Paul claimed the win, with a 80-72 edge.
However, despite the battle, and the surprising slap from Tyson during weigh-ins that threw everything off, Paul stayed humble. In fact, he paid tribute to Tyson. According to NBC Chicago, Paul stated that Tyson was the greatest boxing athlete to have ever lived, and went on to say that he has always been inspired by him. Ironically, a little ways before the battle, Paul stated that after he was aggressively slapped in the face by Tyson, that he wanted to be assertive, and knock him out. As the rounds went on, however, he seemed to forget all about that. After the fight, people asked Tyson if he proved something by completing the battle. Tyson responded by saying that he didn’t prove anything to anybody. He proved to himself. Like previously stated, the match was scheduled for in July, but nonetheless, Tyson prevailed throughout the battle, and continued his new record which is 50-7 with 44 knockouts.
The audience was engulfed with people who were eager to witness the event. This event set an unbelievable record with a total of nearly $18 million in sales and 72,300 tickets sold. Due to the amount of people viewing the event on their live stream, Netflix struggled to manage their feed, as 108 million streamed in to watch. Celebrities made an appearance too, such as Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal and former NFL star Rob Gronkowski, along with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, according to NBC Chicago.
Paul has won countless other battles in the past, including Mike Perry and Ryan Bourland. The surprising similarity is that in both matches, Paul was victorious. Paul was 27 when he fought Perry, in which Perry was 32, with Perry being quickly defeated. To many it appeared that Paul was clearly torturing Perry, by hitting him even when he was down, to the point the referee put a halt to the match in the sixth round with a time of 1:12. In addition, Ryan Bourland didn’t stand up to Paul well either, with Paul sending a barrage of punches at Bourland, before the referee stopped the battle with two rounds and a 2:37 mark. The only person he lost to, was Tommy Fury, who was the half brother of Tyson Fury.
People are still shocked by Pauls’ victory, but many congratulate him on his win. Despite Tysons’ loss, he still walked away with $20 million, only half of the $40 million Paul received.
