Mike Tyson's fight with Jake Paul on Netflix draws eyeballs, and dollars. Is it good for the sport?
CBC
Social media personality Jake Paul beat former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in what some say could be the most-watched boxing event of all time Friday.
Paul won over the boxing legend by unanimous decision in Texas to win an intergenerational heavyweight battle.
All the hate from the pre-fight buildup was gone, with Paul even stopping to pay homage with a bow to Tyson before the final bell sounded at the home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys.
The fight wasn't close on the judge's cards, with one giving Paul an 80-72 edge and the other two calling it 79-73.
Tyson came after Paul immediately after the opening bell and landed a couple of quick punches but didn't try much else the rest of the way. Paul was more aggressive after the quick burst from Tyson in the opening seconds, but the punching wasn't very efficient. There were quite a few wild swings and misses.
The event, which was live streamed on Netflix, drew plenty of attention because of both participants' celebrity status, but also because of unusual circumstances. Some have called the match a farce and a disgrace to boxing that failed to live up the hype, while others say the publicity is good for the sport.
Paul, 27, a former child star who built a massive following on YouTube in the 2010s, became a professional boxer four years ago.
He trains full-time with top coaches and has taken part in several high-profile novelty matches, but none as big as Tyson.
Tyson, 58, one of the most famous boxers in history, was the undisputed world heavyweight champion from 1987 to 1990 and retired in 2005.
He took part in a 2020 exhibition match with Roy Jones Jr. that ended in a draw, but has been plagued by health problems, including sciatica. Friday's match was initially supposed to take place in July but had to be postponed after Tyson fell ill in May with a bleeding stomach ulcer.
Both fighters stand to earn a big payday.
DraftKings Network estimates Tyson will make $20 million US for the fight, while Paul — who co-founded Most Valuable Promotions, the company partnering with Netflix to promote the event — stands to make double that amount.
Spider Jones, a sports journalist and former amateur boxer who is in the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame, says the match is a "sham" and Paul should be challenging top contenders instead of a 58-year-old who has been retired for almost two decades.
"What have we got to in boxing when people will pay this guy millions of dollars to watch him fight somebody that has been over the hill for years?" he said.
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