Jake Paul defeated Mike Tyson via unanimous decision in the former world heavyweight champion’s first fight in 19 years.
The eight-round fight, which took place at the AT&T Stadium in Texas and was streamed on Netflix, was scored 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73 in favour of the YouTuber-turned-boxer.
The opening round began with Paul, 27, using his youth advantage to repeatedly close the gap on 58-year-old Tyson, let loose a jab and quickly create distance.
Tyson was able to catch Paul with a few heavy body shots before the two fighters clinched, which elicited heavy boos from the crowd.
The second round followed a similar vein, Paul doing his best to avoid Tyson’s famously heavy blows before clinching again.
Round number three began much more explosively, with Tyson coming out swinging before being met with a series of left hooks from Paul.
Building in confidence, the YouTuber continued to land heavy blows on a static Tyson, who looked grateful for the bell at the end of the round.
The two fighters missed jabs at the start of the fourth, but Tyson struggled to keep pace with Paul, who was able to pick and choose his spots on the increasingly weary Tyson.
Paul landed a heavy one-two combo to kickstart the halfway mark of the bout as Tyson did his best to use vertical movement to avoid Paul’s strikes, the former heavyweight champion managing to land a stiff overhand right to end the round.
Tyson stood his ground in the sixth, sending Paul scarpering from each attempted strike, before the two exchanged heavy strikes throughout the seventh, which ended with Tyson landing a shot to the head.
But the bout was all but over headed into the final round, as Tyson took his time getting off the corner stool.
There was little of the famous power left in any of Tyson’s punches, and the pair embraced as the bell rang. After, Tyson hinted that he may yet fight again. Few watching will wish it to happen.
