It had been presented as the “match of the year”, the exhibition match that saw a return sul ring dell’AT&T Stadium di Arlington, in Texasat the age of 58, the legendary Mike Tysonagainst Jake Paul 31 years younger than him. And it was, but only for the business numbers. From a sporting point of view, a boring show, pathetic for many, with Iron Mike who, after having written the history of world boxing, did not deserve to end up involved in a show like this. Not even for one purse of at least 20 million dollars.
The double went to 27-year-old YouTuber Jake Paul, the creator of the match. Who beat the former king of the Heavyweights with a unanimous decision of the judges (80-72, 79-73 and 79-73). Prolonging the match up to the 8 rounds agreed only as a tribute to the TV. The match was indeed broadcast live on Netflix and seen by over 25 million viewers around the world.
At AT&T Stadium in Arlington, however, there were 72 thousand spectatorswho left a collection of approximately 18 million dollars: the most expensive tickets, those in the front rows, arrive at 50 thousand dollarsbut the organizers also put some for sale VIP suite from 2 million. So much so, to see just 18 hits scored by Iron Mike.
But the money, yes, it was from “match of the year”.
