More than a boxing fight, it was a desperate attempt to try to rescue a sport lacking figures.
On Friday at AT&T Stadium, the influencer turned boxer, Jake Paul, defeated the legendary by unanimous decision Mike Tyson.
The home of the Dallas Cowboys was transformed into an impressive stage full of multicolored lights, brilliant marquees and dozens of powerful floodlights that exposed the night.
In the presence of numerous film and television stars, Tyson, 58 years old, was submitted by his rival 30 years younger than him.
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The former world heavyweight champion tried to revive old glories from the past but could not find a way to scare away the ghost of time that has been responsible for stealing the fierceness of his youth.
In the first two rounds, Tyson was the one who tried to do something for the show by attacking and throwing one or another blow but his legs were actually a liability and he showed a thick bandage on his right knee.
“I’m not going to use my knee injury as an excuse,” Tyson said after the fight.
From the third episode onwards, Paul took control of the fight and took advantage of his rival’s obvious fatigue to dominate the actions. Paul finished the fight with 278 punches thrown while Tyson only threw 97.
Paul spoiled Tyson and even showed him sincere respect when, seconds before the fight ended, he bowed in tribute to the iconic former champion.
“It is an honor to have fought Tyson, this man is a legend,” Paul said.
If he had wanted to, Paul would have knocked out Tyson, but instead he preferred to extend the fight as much as possible to try to please the 72,300 fans who came to AT&T Stadium.
The fight, scheduled for eight rounds, lasting two minutes each, reached the limit without any of the fighters getting hurt, so it was the judges who had to decide the winner of the fight.
Tyson had not fought in a sanctioned bout since 2005, when he retired in a fight against Kevin McBride.
In 59 official fights, Tyson now has a record of 50 wins, seven losses and two no-contests. Of his 50 victories, 44 were by knockout, five by decision and one by disqualification.
Of Tyson’s seven losses, five were by knockout, one by disqualification and one by decision.
With his victory on Friday, Paul put his record at 11 wins and one loss.
Tayso fell to an influencer who is followed by millions of people on his social networks and who uses boxing to charge millions of dollars for getting into the ring to star in inconsequential fights.
Friday’s card was streamed to more than 280 million Netflix subscribers and Cowboys Stadium welcomed a crowd.
The event was a commercial success, what is difficult to calculate is whether boxing gained at least one more fan.
Also read: Tyson vs. Paul: A generational clash that seeks to attract young boxing fans
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