Paul vs. Tyson: The Fight Of The Year
Photo Credit: Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images
Jake Paul challenged 58-year-old former champion Mike Tyson to a boxing match, and Tyson accepted the challenge as his first unsanctioned fight since 2005. Though it was originally scheduled for Jul. 20, the match was postponed in May, when Tyson required medical attention during a flight from Miami to Los Angeles for an ulcer flare-up. It was instead held on Nov. 15.
Tyson had led a historic boxing career; he became the youngest heavyweight champion at only the age of 20 in 1986, and only a year after, he had collected all three major belts to become an uncontested champion. He made six defenses of the three belts before he finally lost to James "Buster" Douglas by 10th-round KO in 1990.
On the other hand, Paul’s boxing career just recently began in the summer of 2018. By 2020, he accumulated six consecutive victories against former MMA fighters. Paul’s one and only defeat was to Tommy Fury in February 2023, but has since won four fights in a row.
Jake Paul beat Mike Tyson by unanimous decision of the judges in an eight-round match at the AT&T Stadium in Texas, winning his fifth consecutive victory. Fans tuned into the fight on the popular streaming service Netflix, as it was the only available way to watch the fight remotely. However, many had a negative viewing experience, as the stream kept on buffering and there was a noticeable de-synchronization between audio and captioning. Despite this, Netflix hopes to stream such events again in the future.
In a news release from Netflix, it was announced that 60 million households tuned in to watch the event, and that gate receipts for the fight surpassed $18 million in revenue, breaking the record for the biggest boxing match outside of Las Vegas.
As of Dec. 9, Tyson “faces a $1.5 million USD lawsuit over alleged contract violation,” according to CTV News. This lawsuit was issued by a Cyprus-based company that claims he illicitly broke a contract in order to fight Paul. The company, Medier, which promotes online casinos and betting company Rabona, filed a lawsuit in London's High Court against Tyson and his company, Tyrannic. The suit claims Tyson ceased the deal in March by declaring that Medier breached their agreement, which was signed in January.
Medier is looking for the return of over USD$800,000 paid by Tyson “in return for which no services were provided” and $729,000 USD in “wasted production and money lost due to promotion,” according to CTV News. Tyson's lawyers argue that Medier breached the contract by not asking for Tyson's approval for marketing collateral. Tyson earned a reported $20 million USD in November after the fight against Paul in front of over 70,000 people.