Nov. 15 (UPI) — Social media star Jake Paul triumphed over former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in a fight streamed live on Netflix pay-per-view Friday night that pitted opponents 31 years apart.
The three judges scored the fight 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73 in favor of Paul in the eight-round heavyweight event sanctioned by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations.
The rounds lasted for two minutes each while the boxers wore 14-ounce gloves instead of the standard 10-ounce gloves for heavyweight boxing matches.
The fight featured the largest age gap between fighters in the history of professional boxing with Paul 27 and Tyson 58.
The age difference showed as Paul easily triumphed over Tyson during the main event that drew boos from the crowd at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, when it appeared Paul was going easy on Tyson.
Paul landed 78 blows to only 18 for Tyson in the first combat sports event shown live on Netflix, according to CompuBox. Paul threw 278 punches to 97 for Tyson.
After the fight, Paul told media fighting Tyson was an “honor” and called the former world champions a “legend and the greatest to ever do it.”
“He’s the G.O.A.T.,” Paul said of Tyson. “He’s the baddest man on the planet. It was really tough, like I expected it to be.”
Tyson started the fight strong in the first round, but his legs appeared to tire out, which stopped Tyson from initiating any type of sustained offense against Paul during the rest of the fight.
Instead, Tyson focused on defense with head bobbing and weaving while keeping his guard up high as Paul jabbed and only punched from a distance to avoid a potentially devastating counter-punch by Tyson.
Neither fighter was in danger of being knocked down, although Paul landed an effective combination during the third round that visibly shook Tyson.
Paul didn’t follow up though, afterward saying he was fearful that Tyson would hurt him if he got too close to the former champ.
The loss drops Tyson’s official fight record to 50-7 with 44 knockouts while Paul improved to 11-1 with 7 KOs.
While the fight was somewhat less than a fierce encounter, streaming issues caused many who paid to view the fight on Netflix to become livid as buffering, pixel problems, stuttering and video crashes.
An influx of complaints began streaming in to downdetector.com, which tracks website crashes, at about 8 p.m. CST and grew to nearly 89,000 reports by 9:30.
The fight between Paul and Tyson got underway at 11 p.m.
Billed as the “most-watched combat sports event of all time,” Friday’s event was the 58-year-old Tyson’s first sanctioned heavyweight bout since 2005. The former champion, known for his fearsome image and overwhelming power, compiled a 50-6 career record with 44 knockouts before going into retirement.
Paul sported a 10-1 record with seven knockouts during his brief boxing career. In his previous bout, he beat bare-knuckle fighter Mike Perry in a TKO on July 21 in Tampa, Fla.
The bout was originally set for July 20 but was postponed a due to a ulcer flare-up for Tyson, which limited his ability to train. Paul said he fully supported the postponement so that Tyson “has no excuses.”
Even before the match started, promoter Most Valuable Promotions, which is co-owned by Paul, told CNBC the gate receipts at 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium stood at $17.8 million, easily making it the biggest boxing gate in history outside of Nevada.
During the traditional pre-match press conference at Toyota Music Factory in Irving, Texas, on Wednesday, Tyson refused to be drawn into a verbal confrontation with Paul, limiting his answers to one or two words, except to proclaim, “I am not going to lose!”
Paul, meanwhile, did some trash talking about Tyson’s age and reputation as an intimidating and violent opponent, saying, “I want him to be that old savage Mike. He says he’s going to kill me. Is that what you’re going to do, Mike? ‘Cause I’m ready. I want that killer.”
Tyson is one of the most successful heavyweight boxers of all time and was the first fighter to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles. In 1986, he became the youngest boxer to win a heavyweight title.
Often referred to as “Iron Mike” and “The Baddest Man on the Planet,” Tyson got into the entertainment industry after he retired from boxing and has appeared in a number of TV shows and films.
He was convicted of raping an 18-year-old woman in 1992 and served three years of a six-year sentence. The ex-champ has also been convicted of assault, cocaine possession and driving under the influence.