Reaction as Jake Paul beats Mike Tyson on points in underwhelming Netflix fight (2024)

Mike Tyson’s second exit from boxing was even more miserable than his first as he lost to the YouTuber-turned-fighter Jake Paul in a dismal heavyweight contest on Friday.

The eight-round fight, which was streamed live on Netflix, was scored 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73 in favor of Paul, who is 31 years younger than Tyson.

The 58-year-old struggled with his movement throughout and, in the final rounds, Paul appeared hesitant to inflict too much damage on the former undisputed world heavyweight champion. “I was trying to hurt him,” he insisted in the ring afterwards.

Distressingly, Tyson appeared to suggest after his defeat that he could be lured back into the sport in the future. He identified Jake’s brother, Logan, as a potential next opponent.

Netflix’s first foray into live combat sports meanwhile endured some rocky moments with a number of viewers complaining of streaming and buffering problems before and during the fight.

Main card fight results

• Heavyweight: Jake Paul def. Mike Tyson via UD
• 🏆 Super Lightweight: Katie Taylor def. Amanda Serrano via UD
• 🏆 Welterweight: Mario Barrios retains title with draw with Abel Ramos
• Super Middleweight: Neeraj Goyat def. Whindersson Nunes via UD

💬 Carlos JM: “I bought into the hype hoping to see that Tyson magic one more time but watching him walking into the ring I thought that he looked old and that it might not turn out well for him. Thankfully Paul is a make-believe boxer and didn’t do much of anything in the ring. A total farce and cash grab.”

💬 Rich H: “Awful. Jake Paul should be embarrassed. Netflix should be embarrassed. And Mike may have tarnished his legacy a little bit more.”

💬 SP, via email: “Well that went pretty much as expected. Totally disappointing but we shouldn’t be surprised. And Mike Tyson vs Logan Paul just shouldn’t be allowed, although I can’t imagine many people would bother to watch after what we saw today. Thank you for the live coverage which helped me out whenever Netflix went down, which was often!”

Thank you to everybody who sent us a message. I always love hearing where you are watching the fight and today we heard from people as far afield as India, Hong Kong and even the Tortilla Flats on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica (pictured — thanks JS). Apologies to those of you whose message we didn’t get time to properly respond to — we’ll make sure we do next time.

We’ve had a couple of emails asking about this but, yes, this loss will go on Mike Tyson’s professional record because it was a sanctioned bout.

That means Tyson’s pro record now stands at 50-7. Jake Paul becomes just the sixth man to defeat Tyson, the former undisputed world heavyweight champion, joining Buster Douglas, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Danny Williams and Kevin McBride.

Paul’s professional record meanwhile improves to 11-1.

💬 Ryan L: “We are living in a South Park episode.”

💬 Harry V: “A shameless cash grab by Netflix, whose servers couldn’t handle it. 1/10 experience.”

💬 Darren A: “Worst part is, we all knew it was gonna be s***. But we all still watched. Awful, awful poison.”

💬 Rory P: “Embarrassing for all involved unfortunately, myself included. We all watched, tempted by the prospect of Iron Mike delivering one more knockout but it was clear after the second round he was all out of steam.

The Taylor/Serrano fight before was so far ahead of the main event, it might as well have been a different sport. Netflix can try and turn the crowd noise down all they want but we all heard the boos. Hopefully, this is the beginning of the end for these kinds of events…”

💬 Sky: “I’m not even going to call this a fight. It looked like two guys who really didn’t want to get hit because they already had their paychecks. Glad it was free…”

💬 Y: “I feel ashamed I actually watched this.”

💬 Dom M: “Tyson is 58 but looked like 78. No mobility whatsoever. Paul barely broke a sweat and earned a big payday. I gotta think the entire thing was staged. The women’s world title fight that preceded this one was by far the highlight of the night.”

💬 Josh H, via email: “Comfortably the worst boxing match I have ever watched. Makes me long for the glory days of Mayweather vs. McGregor.”

Nearly five hours later, the main card is in the books and truth be told, it was not worth the wait.

At age 58, Tyson looked a shell of himself, understandably so. Paul seemed to take his foot off the gas after a strong flurry early in the fight.

The best fight of the night turned out to be Serrano vs. Taylor, which had intense action, blood and a controversial ending.

Between the sluggish main event, Netflix's technical difficulties and buffering, this event overall feels like something of a dud.

Oh boy.

Ariel Helwani asks Mike Tyson if this is his last fight. “I don’t know. It depends on the situation,” he replies. When pressed if this is the last time he will be in the ring, he says: “I don’t think so?” Helwani asks who he could fight next. “Maybe I fight his brother.”

“Motherf*****, I’ll kill you Mike,” Logan Paul, stood next to his brother Jake, shoots back.

Please God, no.

Jake Paul has just been interviewed in the ring on Netflix. Asked about Mike Tyson, he says: “This guy has always had my back. I love him and his family, his coaches. It was an honor to be in the ring with him. I was trying to hurt him but I was scared he was going to hurt me. I did my best.”

Paul says he wants to fight Canelo next.

We go to the scorecards for the final time this evening.

One judge has it 80-72. The other two have it 79-73.

Jake Paul defeats Mike Tyson via unanimous decision.

It’s time for the final round. Mike Tyson takes an eternity to rise from his stool. When he does, the two men touch gloves. Two minutes left.

Will Jake Paul go for it? His corner wants him to but even he seems a little subdued. Tyson is really struggling to move now and Paul comes forward, looking for the overhand right, his hands lowered.

One minute left. Tyson is grimacing. He is wobbling his way to the salvation of the final bell. Not much is coming back in Paul’s direction now.

20 seconds left.

10 seconds left.

Tyson dodges out of the way of a couple more shots. Paul spends the final few moments performatively bowing. The bell goes and the two men embrace.

That was difficult to watch, in all honesty.

“You’re the young lion, he the old lion,” Jake Paul’s corner tells him. “Mix your s*** up and go at him.”

But there’s a flash of the old Mike. He throws a short left uppercut that catches Paul’s attention and follows it up with a stiff jab. He needs to throw a few more shots. Paul has thrown more than twice as many so far.

Paul decides to work Tyson’s body and then switches it up, landing a right hook that briefly seems to wobble Tyson. But the bell sounds. One round left. Mercifully.

With every passing round Mike Tyson grows increasingly statuesque. This is resembling a sparring session — and an uneven one at that.

After his more exuberant shots in round 5, Jake Paul has got back behind his jab in this one. The crowd sounds incredibly restless.

This is a very strange, somewhat sad spectacle.

Jake Paul is a whisker away from landing a big right hook. Paul is going for the knockout here. Mike Tyson is leaving himself very exposed and is struggling to avoid Paul’s lunges forward.

Paul lands a left hook and, buoyed by its success, lowers his hands. He’s beginning to really fancy his chances in there. Tyson is a stationary target. The finish is there for Paul if he wants it.