Boxing legend Mike Tyson landed just 18 punches against Jake Paul in their highly anticipated fight on Friday.
YouTuber Paul, 27, beat Tyson, 58, after eight two-minute rounds. It marked Tyson’s first professional contest since he retired in 2005, however, he did fight Roy Jones Jr in an exhibition in 2020.
Netflix viewers said Paul appeared to be holding back and he later admitted he was only trying to ‘hurt’ Tyson ‘a little bit’.
It was enough to ensure the former Disney Channel actor walked away victorious.
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Paul entered the ring as the betting favourite and separately, he’s expected to make $40 million, with Tyson expected to take home $20 million.
As a result of the fight, Tyson’s career record falls to 50-7.
The fight statistics, per USA Today Sports for each round show Tyson initially came out stronger. He went to the center of the ring quickly and landed an overhand right, but Paul made Tyson chase him around the ring, perhaps as a way to make him tired as he is 31 years younger than his component.
Fight stats for each round of Paul v. Tyson
Round 1: Tyson 9, Paul 8
Round 2: Tyson 17, Paul 16
Round 3: Paul 25, Tyson 24
Round 4: Paul 33, Tyson 32
Round 5: Paul, 43, Tyson 41
Round 6: Paul 53, Tyson 50
Round 7: Paul 63, Tyson 59
Round 8: Paul 73, Tyson 68
Tyson doesn't think last night's defeat will be his last time in the ring, however.
When asked if that would be the case, Tyson said after his historic loss: "I don’t know. It depends on the situation.
“I don’t think so," he doubled down.
He went on to praise Paul's performance and hailed him as a 'good fighter'.
"I didn’t prove nothing to anyone, just myself," Tyson continued.
"I’m not one of these guys who goes out to please the world, I’m just happy with what I can do."
Following the match, Paul was asked if he was ‘pulling’ punches.
"I was scared he was going to hurt me, I was trying to hurt him,” he said.
Answering someone's question about if he took his foot off the gas in later rounds, Paul said: "Yeah, definitely, definitely a bit. I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want [to hurt him]."
Paul said it was an 'honor' to fight Tyson, and labelled him as an 'icon'.
Friday’s fight took place at AT&T Stadium in Texas and was streamed on Netflix.
Topics: Boxing, Jake Paul, Mike Tyson, Sport, Netflix
Gregory Robinson