Iron Mike didn't have enough in the tank.
The 58-year-old boxing legend lost to Jake Paul by unanimous decision in his return to the ring at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Friday night.
The fight was scored by the judges 80-72, 79-73, 79-73 in favor of Paul.
While the heavyweight bout went the full eight rounds, it certainly won't go down as an instant classic. Tyson landed just 18 of his 97 total punches, according to Compubox, while Paul connected on 78 of 278 punches.
Boos began to rain down inside the venue, where a crowd of over 70,000 was expected, late in the match over a lack of action. Tyson threw fewer than 10 punches in each of the last three rounds, and Paul ended the match by bowing toward his opponent in the final seconds.
Many watching from home on Netflix, meanwhile, took to social media to voice their displeasure with the quality of both the stream and the main event.
“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, a 27-year-old YouTuber-turned boxer, improved to 11-1 since launching his fighting career in 2020.
“I was trying to hurt him a little bit,” Paul added. “I was scared he was going to hurt me. I was trying to hurt him. I did my best. I did my best.”
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Tyson, who was fighting in his first professional bout since 2005, dropped to 50-7.
“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.”
Tyson vs. Paul was originally scheduled for July before being postponed in May after Tyson experienced an ulcer flare-up. The bout was professionally sanctioned by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, though, it consisted of two-minute rounds instead of three-minute rounds, and heavier gloves designed to lessen the impact of punches.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
