Jake Paul beat Mike Tyson by clear decision in a historic boxing match streamed live on Netflix on Saturday night at AT&T Stadium. It was Netflix’s first live sports event.
The 27-year-old social media star-turned-boxer won with scores of 80–72 and 79–73, making his record 11–1 as a professional. In a fight that drew a record-breaking $17.8 million, Tyson, 58, improved his record to 50–7.
Because the two fighters were 31 years apart, the rules of the fight were changed. The rounds were cut down to two minutes, and fighters wore 14-ounce gloves to lessen the force of their blows. The event was seen by all 280 million Netflix users around the world.
Paul won the match by jabbing smartly and keeping up a steady work rate while avoiding full-power shots. Even though there were a lot of emotions before the fight—Tyson even hit the scales—the fight wasn’t as exciting as people thought it would be.
It was the most exciting fight when Paul hit Tyson with a triple left hook in the third round. But the veteran boxer’s famous toughness helped him get better quickly.
One person watching from the ring said, “The match was more technical than explosive.” Both athletes seemed cautious, and Tyson was said to have leg problems from an injury he got in training.
Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions put on the event, which Tyson reportedly made $20 million from. The fight is clearly on both fighters’ records, but a rematch doesn’t look likely because Tyson is old and the fight wasn’t very exciting.
Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano fought very tough on the undercard, but Netflix had some streaming problems while the show was airing.
Paul’s win is another step from being famous on the internet to being a serious boxer. Tyson’s performance showed that he was in great shape for an athlete who is approaching 60 years old.
