When the match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson dragged on into the early hours of Saturday morning, the internet was ablaze with accusations that the YouTuber-turned-boxer was facilitating the fight.
The 27-year-old won a unanimous decision in Friday night's marquee contest at AT&T Stadium, but long before the bell rang for the eighth and final round, Paul knocked 58-year-old Iron Mike. There was no shortage of stories claiming that it could have been taken down.
“Paul carried Tyson for the last four rounds and had little intention of knocking him out,” said Bill Speros, sports columnist for the Boston Herald. I wrote to X. “Tyson basically stood there and took the beating.
“I'm glad he got $20 million and one last chance,” Speros further opined, citing previous reports from news outlets such as: CBS News About Tyson's fight payout. (CBS reported that Paul's $40 million payout was double Tyson's.)
Others shared his feelings.
“Jake Paul is leading Mike Tyson into this fight,” said Robert Griffin III, an NFL quarterback turned NFL analyst. I wrote to X.
“He damaged Mike with three jabs in a row in the second round and stopped the gas pedal completely. He could have ended the fight there, and in every round that followed. A smart business move by Jake Paul that would give all the sponsors more airtime.”
Paul admitted after the match that he eased up on Tyson when he saw that the former heavyweight champion was tired.
“Yeah, sure,” Paul said. “A little bit, for sure. I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn't want to hurt anyone who didn't need to be hurt.”
Some viewers felt that Paul's restraint was a disaster for the sport as a whole.
“Jake Paul carried Mike Tyson for eight rounds and knew he would be in very bad shape to knock out Iron Mike.” a user wrote in X. “Jake Paul is not serious about being champion. He needs to step up his game or stop with a novelty act match. The public won't buy into the hype anymore.”
(The general public would, and they did.) AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, had 70,000 fans in person, and hundreds of thousands more via Netflix, despite buffering issues. I watched it.)
Magic Johnson was disappointed to see one of boxing's greats fall so far.
“It's just sad. I hung up because I couldn't watch it anymore. I went to all of Tyson's fights, so it's sad to see Mike Tyson like this. Tonight's fight was not great for boxing.” he said via X.
Dave Portnoy contributed his two centsfurther adding, “Credit to Jake Paul and Mike Tyson for pulling off one of the great downsides of the century. You should bet 10 million on Jake, not because he's better, but because he fought upper class nationals.” “I think everyone involved should be ashamed, but I would pay if I could.''
