YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul emerged victorious over former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in their much-anticipated professional bout on Friday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Fighting before a crowd of 72,300 fans at the home of the Dallas Cowboys, Paul took control of the match and won by unanimous decision. All three judges scored in his favor, with scores of 80-72, 79-73, and 79-73.
With this win, Paul advances to an impressive 11-1 record in his professional boxing career, including seven knockouts. He now joins a select group of only six fighters who have defeated the legendary Tyson.
"First and foremost, Mike Tyson, it’s such an honor," Paul said to Tyson after the match. "He’s the G.O.A.T. I look up to him, I’m inspired by him, and we wouldn’t be here today without him. This man is an icon, and it’s just an honor to be able to fight him."
The opening rounds were relatively calm as both fighters took time to adjust to each other's styles. Tyson, fighting his first professional match in 19 years, came out swinging in the third round, launching aggressive punches and landing an early hit on Paul. But Paul quickly retaliated, delivering a series of well-placed punches that appeared to rattle the former heavyweight champ.
At 58, Tyson began to show signs of fatigue for the first time in the bout, becoming more stationary and lacking the signature dips, slips, and explosive punches that had once led to his 44 knockouts. Commenting from the broadcast panel, Roy Jones Jr., Tyson's 2020 exhibition opponent, remarked, “I don’t like Mike’s legs. I don’t like Mike’s legs at all.”
From that point on, Paul took control, landing clean combinations and using his jab effectively to keep Tyson at bay. Though Tyson showed brief bursts of energy in the later rounds, he never regained the momentum needed to pose a serious threat.
Originally, the pair had been scheduled to fight in July, but the match was postponed due to Tyson experiencing an ulcer flare-up on a flight.
When asked post-fight if he felt he proved he could still go the distance despite his age, Tyson responded, “I didn’t prove nothing to anybody, only to myself. I’m not one of those guys that looks to please the world. I’m just happy with what I can do.”
In his prime, Tyson was renowned for his ferocious knockouts, famously dominating champions like Michael Spinks and Larry Holmes. His last professional victory came in 2003 with a first-round knockout of Clifford Etienne, and he later fought Roy Jones Jr. in a 2020 exhibition that ended in a draw.
For Paul, Friday’s fight marked perhaps the biggest matchup of his career, a career that began on an unconventional path. What started as a “YouTube extravaganza” led to Paul’s professional debut in January 2020 with a technical knockout win over fellow YouTuber Ali Eson Gib. Since then, Paul has defeated notable opponents, including former NBA player Nate Robinson and MMA stars Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva, and Nate Diaz.
Although Paul suffered his first loss to Tommy Fury in February 2023, he rebounded with a unanimous decision win over Diaz. Recently, he has taken down professional boxers like Andre August and Ryan Borland and bare-knuckle champion Mike Perry.
The fight was also Netflix’s debut into live boxing events, featuring seven bouts on Friday night. However, many viewers faced technical difficulties, including buffering, lag, and loading issues. Around 90,000 users reported outages on DownDetector in the hour leading up to the fight, leading to widespread frustration on social media.
Many viewers took to social media to share screenshots of frozen TV screens and the spinning loading wheel, with some saying they had to reload the app multiple times to continue watching. Another issue reported was sound quality, especially during an interview with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, whose microphone malfunctioned, making it difficult for viewers to hear him clearly.
Netflix declined to comment on the technical problems. Reflecting on the night’s success, Paul remarked, “This is the biggest event—over 120 million people on Netflix. We crashed the site.”
Netflix’s entry into live sports will continue with two NFL games scheduled for Christmas Day, part of a three-season deal with the league. Starting in 2025, the platform will also begin airing WWE’s weekly “Raw” show.
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Tyson Vs Jake Paul Full Fight LIVE