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Andreas Hale, ESPN
ARLINGTON, Texas — Jake Paul cruised to a unanimous decision over Mike Tyson in a fight where a 27-year-old YouTuber-turned-prizefighter defeated a 58-year-old heavyweight legend.
It was a generational clash that drew more than 70,000 fans at AT&T Stadium to the tune of an $18.1 million gate and streamed live on Netflix to hundreds of millions of viewers across the globe amid buffering problems throughout the broadcast. The in-ring action may not have thoroughly entertained those watching, but it delivered a once-in-a-lifetime pop culture experience. Now that the dust has settled and the fight has left many unsatisfied due to the lack of action, where do Paul and Tyson go from here?
Tyson looked every bit his age against Paul. Between the knee brace and curiously gnawing at his gloves, Tyson didn’t appear to have much to offer. The CompuBox stats proved the former champ’s current state, as Tyson landed a mere 18 punches out of 97 thrown over the course of eight, two-minute rounds. He never landed more than four punches in any round and failed to connect in the fourth and sixth rounds.
But Tyson managed to make it out of the fight on his feet, assisted a bit by Paul, who admitted to taking his foot off the gas in the middle rounds when he saw that the former champion was spent. Tyson leaves with his dignity and a hefty bag of cash. He’ll remember that deafening ovation he received during his walkout and will be reminded that he is one of the most exciting athletes in American history.
But Tyson also left the door open to returning to the boxing ring.
“I don’t think so,” Tyson said when asked after the match if he would stop fighting. “I don’t know, maybe his brother [Logan].”
Truthfully, nobody should want to see anything like this again, because it is impossible to live up to the expectations. Especially when you consider how lethargic Tyson looked against an opponent 31 years his junior. However, money talks and there will always be room for convincing fans that an iconic figure like Tyson has a chance.
Paul, for better or worse, has proved to be the biggest draw in boxing after Friday’s spectacle. Between his ability to pull emotion out of fans by playing the heel and his growing boxing skill set that has kept him afloat by winning a majority of his fights, Paul’s unlikely rise in the sport isn’t going to die soon. However, how much longer can he fight over-the-hill opponents whose best years are behind them?
Sooner or later, the jig will be up. Still, Paul is smart enough to know just how long he can play this game and prey on the curiosity of fans. He still yearns to be a world champion, and while challenging Canelo Alvarez to a boxing match still seems ridiculous, so did a sanctioned boxing match with Tyson that not only came to fruition but became one of the biggest boxing events of all time.
“Everyone is next on the list,” Paul said when asked about upcoming bouts. “Canelo needs me, I’m not even going to call him out. He needs a payday, he knows where the money man is at.”
Paul’s likely best course of action will be to build his résumé by facing “boxers” (or anybody with a pro boxing record). It was a course he was on when he faced journeymen Andre August and Ryan Bourland in late 2023 and early 2024, respectively. But then he pivoted toward the money fights, when the opportunity to fight the iconic Tyson presented itself. The well has likely run dry on MMA fighters not named Conor McGregor, so Paul will likely look for boxers to pick off, build his record and hope to get ranked by a sanctioning body in his pursuit of cruiserweight championship gold.
And that’s the scary thing about where we are. There’s a universe where Tyson and 59-year-old former champ Lennox Lewis will fight again. It really shouldn’t happen, but it could with the magnitude of this event and the extraordinary financial upside.
Regardless of the result or the negative reactions, the excitement the fight brought to our imaginations is addicting and will lead to imitations down the line. There’s just too much money to be made.