After months of suspenseful anticipation and a postponed fight date, Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson was decided last Friday. The officially sanctioned fight saw 58-year-old Iron Mike, 3x former undisputed heavyweight champion, take on 27-year-old Paul, a YouTuber-turned-boxer. After eight full 2-minute rounds, Paul was declared winner by unanimous decision. Yet, despite extensive media coverage and a large production budget, the event failed to meet its expectations.
To begin with, the fight itself was quite underwhelming, with Tyson landing only 18 punches in total. There was a stark contrast between the overwhelming excitement and hype before the match and the actual intensity of the fight. It felt like a humiliation of Tyson rather than a competition of skill. Tyson, suffering from the effects of his older age, only lasted one round before greatly slowing down. It appeared as if Tyson was holding back as well, rarely taking advantage of an opening in Paul’s defense and even straight-up pulling back multiple punches. This starkly contrasted Tyson’s pre-fighting training footage, where he dominated his trainers with aggressive, powerful strikes nearly knocking over his coaches. This left the rest of the match feeling like a beatdown as Paul battered the lethargic shadow of the legendary boxer.
If Paul had wanted to prove his skills in the ring, he would have chosen a young, professionally active fighter such as Canelo Alvarez or Jorge Masvidal. Instead, he picked Tyson, a 58-year-old man who hasn’t fought professionally since 2005. Tyson even suffered a major ulcer while training for the fight, spending 11 days in the hospital where he says he “nearly died.” Additionally, in 2022, he announced that he had received surgery for sciatica stemming from his back. Paul seems to have a track record of only fighting older, retired fighters. He has only fought one active fighter, Tommy Fury, losing by split decision.
The preparation leading to the event was largely overshadowed by Paul’s continued tradition of tasteless behavior, highlighting the egotistical persona that inflated his early career on YouTube. In the final weigh-in before the match, Paul approached the stage on all fours imitating a gorilla walking on its knuckles. Many have since claimed this move was racist towards Mike Tyson, who is African-American. Paul then stepped on Tyson’s historically vulnerable feet, although it is unclear if it was intentional. Tyson retaliated by slapping Paul across the face. Paul has faced controversy in the past for numerous racist comments made throughout his career. He has also been accused of propagating a scam and introducing his YouTube audience to gambling by promoting MysteryBrand, an online gambling site aimed at young children.
As the cherry on top, Netflix, the sole streamer of the fight, suffered major connectivity issues throughout the night, with over 90,000 users struggling to load the live stream. Other technical issues, such as multiple microphone malfunctions and faulty interviewer earpieces, were prevalent throughout the preliminary rounds and the main fight. This left many viewers frustrated over the website’s lack of preparation. In fact, a $50 million class-action lawsuit has been filed in Florida over the site’s poor performance.
This fight exemplifies a cultural shift in professional fighting from a highly competitive test of skill to a sensationalized spectacle. Putting on a good show has taken precedence over organizing a challenging fight. For example, media coverage leading up to the bout focused more on Paul’s antics than his training and preparation.
When fights are run this way, prioritizing pay-per-view (PPV) revenue and entertainment over athletic competition, it degrades the spirit of the sport. Although many found the idea of watching Iron Mike in the ring nostalgic, it failed to meet the high expectations one would attach to Tyson’s name. For all the publicity, the fight could have been so much better. Time will tell if Paul’s future fights will be better, but if his criteria for opponents stays consistent, it seems unlikely.
