Social media star Jake Paul wins unanimous decision over Tyson
Nov. 15 (UPI) — Social media star Jake Paul triumphed over former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in a fight streamed live on Netflix pay-per-view Friday night that pitted opponents 31 years apart.
The three judges scored the fight 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73 in favor of Paul in the eight-round heavyweight event sanctioned by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations.
The rounds lasted for two minutes each while the boxers wore 14-ounce gloves instead of the standard 10-ounce gloves for heavyweight boxing matches.
The fight featured the largest age gap between fighters in the history of professional boxing with Paul 27 and Tyson 58.
The age difference showed as Paul easily triumphed over Tyson during the main event that drew boos from the crowd at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, when it appeared Paul was going easy on Tyson.
Paul landed 78 blows to only 18 for Tyson in the first combat sports event shown live on Netflix, according to CompuBox. Paul threw 278 punches to 97 for Tyson.
After the fight, Paul told media fighting Tyson was an “honor” and called the former world champions a “legend and the greatest to ever do it.”
“He’s the G.O.A.T.,” Paul said of Tyson. “He’s the baddest man on the planet. It was really tough, like I expected it to be.”
Tyson started the fight strong in the first round, but his legs appeared to tire out, which stopped Tyson from initiating any type of sustained offense against Paul during the rest of the fight.
Instead, Tyson focused on defense with head bobbing and weaving while keeping his guard up high as Paul jabbed and only punched from a distance to avoid a potentially devastating counter-punch by Tyson.
Neither fighter was in danger of being knocked down, although Paul landed an effective combination during the third round that visibly shook Tyson.
Paul didn’t follow up though, afterward saying he was fearful that Tyson would hurt him if he got too close to the former champ.
The loss drops Tyson’s official fight record to 50-7 with 44 knockouts while Paul improved to 11-1 with 7 KOs.
