It turns out, there was not much to be excited about in a fight between a YouTuber and a 58-year-old ex-champ.
Perhaps as expected, 27-year-old Jake Paul cruised to a one-sided unanimous decision victory over the aging Mike Tyson, who is 19 months shy of turning 60. The former YouTuber-turned-boxer, who was born right smack in Tyson’s second act as a professional fighter, peppered Iron Mike with jabs and used his vastly superior speed to get out of harm’s way. It was the story throughout the bout, which was shortened to eight two-minute rounds instead of the usual twelve three-minute rounds, ostensibly in deference to Tyson’s advancing age.
In the end, Paul won by scores of 80-72, 79-73, 79-73 to hike his boxing record to 11-1.
Paul vs. Tyson by the Numbers
Data from CompuBox showed just how one-sided the fight was, with Paul landing 78 of the 278 punches he threw as compared to Tyson connecting on just 18 in 97 total punches. Of the 78 punches Paul landed, 31 were jabs, which appeared to be the preferred punch of the younger fighter—at least for this bout.
In all, Paul landed 48% of the punches he threw, while Tyson connected on just 37% of the few punches he threw.
What’s Next for Paul and Tyson?
Even before fighting Tyson, Paul had already been clamoring for a shot at Canelo Alvarez, universally recognized as among the very best in the sport at the moment.
However, given Alvarez’s standing as the WBA (Super), WBC, and WBO super middleweight kingpin, it seems highly unlikely he will agree to fight Paul, whose lone loss is to Tommy Fury, a real boxer in his prime.
What’s likely is that Paul would once again line up either an older athlete looking for a big buck or a washed up MMA fighter in search of a big payday as fighting a real boxer in his athletic prime might be disaster waiting to happen for the former YouTube star.
As for Tyson, permanent retirement might be the best course of action as it is clear Father Time isn’t giving him a reprieve. He likely earned tens of millions from this bout anyway, and that might be enough for him to just enjoy life after boxing.
