Mike Tyson (black gloves) fights Jake Paul (silver gloves) at AT&T Stadium.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Jake Paul beat boxing legend Mike Tyson by unanimous decision to win an intergenerational heavyweight battle in Texas on Saturday.
The bout between the 27-year-old YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul and the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Tyson was streamed live on Netflix and played out in front of a sold-out crowd at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
Those fans were left largely disappointed as Tyson showed his age and was never able to generate any offense against his younger opponent, landing just 18 punches to Paul's 78.
Paul started dominating Tyson from the third round and took complete control of the fight and didn't allow the legendary boxer to get his rhythm back.
After the fight, Paul acknowledged Tyson and called him the greatest of all time while praising him.
How fans reacted
Everyone was hoping Tyson would deliver something special. But, as he failed to do so, fans quickly reacted on social media.
American businessman and former basketball player Earvin Magic Johnson wrote, "Just sad smh. I cut it off because I couldn’t watch anymore. It’s sad to see Mike Tyson like this because I went to every Tyson fight. This fight tonight was not great for boxing."
A person wrote, "Best part of the fight…. The booing"
"Seeing mike tyson get hit makes me sad," another person wrote.
"I don’t know anything about boxing, but that seemed…sad. Grudgingly, I will acknowledge Paul’s gesture at the end of the bout to give respect to Mike Tyson," another user wrote.
Viewers were also frustrated with the buffering issues that were experienced as early as the main card's first fight of the night.
Prior to the fight, the Netflix stream accidentally showed the bare backside of Mike Tyson as he finished a pre-fight interview. UFC star Conor McGregor in a now-deleted post said that Tyson “has solid buttocks” and “nipples like cigars.”
"A solid buttocks, nipples like cigars, knockout power. Mike is truly God’s creation! God bless Iron Mike!" McGregor had commented.
(With inputs from Reuters)