- Mike Tyson went the distance in his first professional fight in nearly 20 years
- Jake Paul dominated the fight as an unsteady Tyson refused to throw punches
- Check out MailSport Boxing YouTube for interviews on the ground in Texas
Jake Paul has revealed that he decided not to knockout out Mike Tyson during his comprehensive victory over the former heavyweight champion.
The Youtuber-turned-boxer, 31 years Tyson’s junior, claimed a unanimous decision in front of a packed AT&T Stadium on Friday night.
Tyson was unable to match Paul’s energy and his condition worsened throughout the eight-round clash. Though, despite the veteran’s struggles it was curious to see Paul refrain from landing a decisive blow.
Following the victory, the 27-year-old revealed that it was conscious decision not to inflict any unnecessary pain on the 58-year-old who, in his view ‘didn’t need to be hurt.’
When asked whether he eased up after noticing Tyson tiring, Paul said: ‘Yeah definitely. Definitely a bit.
‘I wanted to give the fans a show but I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt.’
The underwhelming spectacle drew a few boos at the finish, while many of the those watched the clash online were left feeling empty by the sight of the veteran.
Tyson was only in action for 16 minutes on Friday. But to those watching him lumber around the ring with a brace on his right knee, it felt much longer. At one point, ‘he’s 58’ began trending on X in reference to Iron Mike’s age.
KSI, who fought Paul’s older brother Logan in 2019 and correctly predicted that the duel would not be a contest, labelled the event ‘elderly abuse’.
‘What a sad watch,’ he wrote on Instagram. Whole this was sad. Mike Tyson is twice the age of Jake Paul ffs. It was never EVER gonna be close. I can’t believe that this elderly abuse was even sanctioned. Just disgusting.’
Similarly, undisputed super welterweight champion Terence Crawford didn’t pull any punches when discussing the fight.
‘I love Mike Tyson, but they giving him too much credit,’ Crawford wrote on X. ‘He looked like trash, to train that long and only throw 97 punches the whole fight is crazy. I’m just glad he didn’t get hurt out there.’
Tyson did just about enough to make the first the only round he won. Thereafter, the YouTuber kept doing enough to ensure his 11th victory in 12 fights but not sufficient to inflict serious damage on the boxing legend.
The veteran was competing in his first professional duel in almost two decades and it showed as he failed to keep up with his much younger opponent.
