ARLINGTON, Texas — Mike Tyson does not think his unanimous defeat against Jake Paul in Texas will be his last appearance in a boxing ring, adding that he has no regrets over losing to Paul after climbing into the ring “one last time.”
The eight-round fight, which took place at the AT&T Stadium in Texas and was streamed on Netflix, was scored 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73 in favour of the YouTuber-turned-boxer.
It was Tyson’s first fight in 19 years but, speaking to Netflix after the bout, the 58-year-old left the window open for future fights.
Asked if it was the last time he would be seen in a ring, Tyson said: “I don’t know. It depends on the situation.
When asked who a future opponent could be, Tyson pointed out Paul’s brother Logan in the crowd.
Paul won an eight-round unanimous decision over Tyson as the hits didn’t match the hype in a fight between the 27-year-old YouTuber-turned-boxer and the former heavyweight champion in his first sanctioned pro bout in almost 20 years.
All the hate from the pre-fight buildup was gone, replaced by boos from bewildered fans hoping for more from a fight that drew plenty of questions about its legitimacy long beforehand.
The fight wasn’t close on the judge’s cards, with one giving Paul an 80-72 edge and the other two calling it 79-73.
“Let´s give it up for Mike,” Paul said in the ring, not getting much response from a crowd that started filing out before the decision was announced.
“He´s the greatest to ever do it. I look up to him. I´m inspired by him,” Paul added according to AP.
Tyson came after Paul immediately after the opening bell and landed a couple of quick punches but didn’t try much else the rest of the way.
Even fewer rounds than the normal 10 or 12 and two-minute rounds instead of three, along with heavier gloves designed to lessen the power of punches, couldn’t do much to generate action.
Paul was more aggressive after the quick burst from Tyson in the opening seconds, but the punching wasn’t very efficient. There were quite a few wild swings and misses.
“I was trying to hurt him a little bit,” said Paul, who improved to 11-1. “I was scared he was going to hurt me. I was trying to hurt him. I did my best. I did my best.”
Tyson mostly sat back and waited for Paul to come to him, with a few exceptions. It was quite the contrast to the co-main event, another slugfest between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano in which Taylor kept her undisputed super lightweight championship with another disputed decision.
Paul said he eased up starting about the third round because he thought Tyson was tired and vulnerable.
“I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want to hurt somebody that didn’t need to be hurt,” Paul said.
It was the first sanctioned fight since 2005 for Tyson, who fought Roy Jones Jr. in a much more entertaining exhibition in 2020. Paul started fighting a little more than four years ago.
“I didn´t prove nothing to anybody, only to myself,” Tyson said when asked what it meant to complete the fight. “I’m not one of those guys that looks to please the world. I’m just happy with what I can do.”
“I have so much respect for him,” Paul said. “That violence, war thing between us, like after he slapped me, I wanted to be aggressive and take him down and knock him out and all that stuff. That kind of went away as the rounds went on.”
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