In the end, there was no big showdown in Texas. But at least 58-year-old Mike Tyson held out in the ring until the end against his 31-year-younger challenger: Jake Paul won the fight on points after eight rounds lasting two minutes each. Mike Tyson still said after the fight that he was “satisfied.” And that he wasn’t surprised about the outcome: “I don’t have to prove anything to anyone.”
The end of the boxing night, which opened with much fanfare and many preliminary fights in the Arlington Stadium in Texas in front of 72,300 spectators, was or should have been somewhat touching. In the last seconds of the current final round, Paul bowed in the ring to the former heavyweight world champion Tyson and then probably paid him respect. Or at least pretended to.
It was an honor that I got to fight Mike Tyson.
Sieger Jake Paul
Previously, fans had seen a low-level fight. One commenter on “Netflix” even said: “It’s a bit sad here.”
Tyson had started energetically but failed to knock out his more agile opponent. And as the time went on, better fitness became crucial for the younger boxer. The 27-year-old Paul deservedly won against Tyson. In round three, Paul hit hard and Tyson faltered.
After round three, Tyson held back
After that, Paul dominated. Tysons held back, to the disappointment of many celebrities in the arena of the Dallas Cowboys football team. Shortly before the fight, former basketball star Shaquille O’Neal demanded of Tyson: “Kick his ass.”
But that didn’t happen: the judges decided clearly in favor of the boxing influencer, who had previously only fought eleven fights (with ten wins) (80-72, 79-73 and 79-73).
Netflix is having streaming problems
Winner Paul finally said: “It was an honor that I was allowed to fight him.” There was a big consolation for Mike Tyson; the loser reportedly received $38 million for his first appearance in the boxing ring in 19 years.
Incidentally, many viewers in Germany set their alarm clocks early on Saturday morning for free. The fight started shortly after 6 a.m. Central European Time and the Netflix stream was shaky or not working at all.
Even before the fight, the streaming provider received 25,000 complaints about the ongoing disruptions. On the social network “X”, numerous users posted photos of error messages and complained about the consistently poor resolution during the transfer. There was initially no public reaction from Netflix.