Internet star Jake Paul faced off against one of boxing's all-time greats Friday night: Iron Mike Tyson. And Paul won — on decision.
At the first ding of the bell, it was clear that only glimpses of the old Iron Mike gleamed through under the lights of the Dallas Cowboys' stadium. Tyson's peek-a-boo style that once served to the advantage of his short frame — where he would explode out from under or around his opponents — could not compensate the 58-year-old's loss in speed and power.
From Round 1, Tyson came out with a flurry, but for each 2-minute round until the eighth, Paul asserted his tempo more and more with the jab.
By the eighth round, Tyson was worn, his head movement still bobbing from side to side. The 27-year-old Paul's shots hit clean, though.
And then, with seconds left to spare, Paul bowed to Tyson with a gesture of respect. The bell rang. And the fight was over.
"I'm getting ready to watch this Tyson vs Jake Paul fight like I'm watching someone cast a spell that I hope actually works," Joe Rogan tweeted before the fight. "And I don't really believe in magic. But I want to believe."
By the end of the fight, Rogan added: "Magic isn't real."
On X, many fight fans wrote about their disappointment with the match.
The heavyweight boxing icon has undergone many changes since his heydey, venturing into cannabis and psilocybin chocolates. And in the end, Paul won via unanimous decision with marks of the contest at 80-72, 79-73, 79-73.
According to the New York Post, "Paul threw 278 punches and landed 78 of them." Tyson threw 97 and landed 18.
When it came time for Paul to raise his hand, there was no deafening roar. The praise was customary, but almost painful sounding as if everyone in the stands had been gut-punched.