Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul: Why the mega event felt like a giant waste of time thanks to lackluster performances

Of all the ways that Friday’s spectacle between 58-year-old Mike Tyson and YouTube star Jake Paul had the potential to leave the sport of boxing (and the reported 150 million spectators who tuned in live on Netflix) unhappy, what we ultimately received over eight forgettable rounds feels about as bad as it gets.

For the record, yes, it actually could’ve been a lot worse had Tyson, the Hall-of-Famer and former undisputed heavyweight champion, been damaged physically and stretchered out of the ring — thus manifesting the extreme gamble that comes with booking a professional fight featuring a 31-year age gap, which is the largest in boxing history. 

But what we received, instead, as an AT&T Stadium crowd of more than 72,000 in Arlington, Texas, showered the 27-year-old Paul (11-1, 7 KOs) in boos at the conclusion of this eight-round farce doesn’t make you feel that much better considering how rare it is in the modern era when a heavily promoted “superfight” wakes up the masses and allows boxing such a valuable, front-page closeup as Tyson’s return did. 

Before we dive fully into the negative, there were a few positives connected to this event. 

Tyson, after seeing his pro career come to a shameful ending in 2005 when he refused to get up from the canvas against journeyman Kevin McBride, put forth a redeeming effort physically by the shape he entered the ring in despite pushing 60 and by the pre-fight flashes he showed — including his slapping of Paul at Thursday’s weigh-in — which reminded us of why he was such a beloved (and often polarizing) reality TV superstar years before the genre ever existed. 

Paul, a master marketer and successful crossover pugilist who has become a legitimate pay-per-view draw and promoter, also succeeded in creating an incredibly grand event that got the attention of Netflix to bring huge money and exposure to the table. In fact, the biggest benefactors to Paul’s incredible salesmanship were undoubtedly women’s superstars Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, who thrilled the crowd in an all-action rematch in the co-main event as both received record purses for female fighters in doing so. 

It’s one thing, however, to bring a massive set of eyeballs to the table as boxing’s new disruptive ambassador who is responsible, thanks to his incredible social media reach, for recruiting a whole sector of new and young fans. But it’s another thing to finish the job and send customers home happy with the kind of grand finale worthy of everyone’s time and money. 

Sure, a cynic might say, ‘What in the heck were you expecting with a 58-year-old opponent?‘ But it simply wouldn’t have been wrong, considering it was Tyson who pushed so hard for the fight to be classified as one, to have expected to see an actual professional bout. 

What Paul and Tyson ultimately delivered upon was glorified sparring and an exhibition. If said exhibition had looked anything like the one Tyson delivered in 2020 against fellow legend Roy Jones Jr. in their PPV blockbuster, no one would’ve complained. Instead, all we got was a complete waste of our time. 

Tyson tried his best to do his part and looked decently dangerous in the opening round until his legs started to go and his output greatly diminished the rest of the way. Paul rocked Tyson with a combination in Round 3 and it looked like Tyson was rapidly close to a stoppage defeat, but that’s where Paul appeared to purposely let off of the gas. 

Whether it was Paul showing a merciful side, Paul being too fearful of Tyson countering or, worse, the two having some form of pre-fight (or even silent) agreement not to finish the other one off, Paul’s decision to carry Tyson took any remaining air left in the balloon and completely turned the event into a sham.

No one ever doubted coming in that there would likely be a thin line the two boxers would have to walk for this fight to be considered a monster success from the standpoint of entertainment. It was, however, possible, especially if Tyson connected big early. 

Ultimately, still recognizing the desired outcome of Tyson avoiding an unnecessarily violent ending, the fight produced zero knockdowns, few periods of two-way action and a Paul way too content at jabbing to the body from distance against his willing but wobbly opponent. 

Paul’s fights are automatically going to be looked at with critical and cynical eyes given the opinion of hard-core boxing observers who feel Paul’s ambition and work ethic demand respect but not necessarily his resume of novice, aging fighters who are often two weight divisions smaller. And considering how much he has been campaigning for the idea of either fighting for a cruiserweight world title or boxing against Canelo Alvarez, thus going the “legitimate” route for the first time, it’s hard to believe this result helps Paul get closer to either one.

Seeing Paul go from theatrically screaming that he was going to kill Tyson after being slapped at the weigh-in to seeing him fill the stadium with the stale aroma of pro wrestling only exasperated the already carnival vibes that this event produced from the beginning. Yes, we were all accomplices in allowing ourselves to be seduced by the tease of closing our eyes and imagining that Tyson of 1988 had walked back through that door. 

But that doesn’t mean we didn’t deserve more from whatever form of real fight this oddball matchup turned itself into being. 

The Jake Paul Experience has been a wild and, at times, fun ride as he has successfully bridged the gap between sports and entertainment. But this was the night he jumped the shark in a big way, thus wasting a shot at reminding the masses how great this sport can actually be.