Jake Paul fight vs. Mike Tyson doesn’t end the way anyone wanted

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Jake Paul and Mike Tyson faced off in what was branded “the biggest fight in modern boxing history” on Friday night.

Others described it as like a car crash — impossible to look away.

But whatever description you picked, it’s an event that had everyone talking for all sorts of reasons.

For fans looking for a knockout, they came to the wrong place.

And it Paul was who came out the winner, by way of a unanimous decision, the event and its lead-up delivered all sorts of drama throughout the week (and months) leading up to the event.

Though the fight was more defensive in the early rounds than some would’ve liked  — the two-minute, eight round option allowed for both fighters to opt for more dancing and diving than a knockout-thirsty crowd was hoping for, both in person and online.

Two Canadian fighters — Lucas Bahdi and Melinda Walpool — fought earlier in the preliminary fights. Bahdi won by majority decision, while Walpool lost by split decision. In the co-main event, Katie Taylor defeated Amanda Serrano by an undisputed decision in a rematch of a 2022 megafight.

Why did Mike Tyson fight Jake Paul in the first place?

It would be easy to say the event itself was 99 parts spectacle, one part sporting event. But make no mistake, both fighters were out there giving an honest push for the win on the evening.

Paul, the 27-year-old social media troll who went pro as a boxer in 2020, and Tyson, the former heavyweight champion of the world and one of the most iconic fighters of all time, weren’t exactly a natural match for each other.

But while it was far from a straightforward path to get there, it was hard for anyone with even a passing interest to look away.

Broadcast worldwide to anyone with a Netflix subscription — although the broadcast had several hiccups along the way according to many viewers —  it wasn’t your typical pay-per-view event.

And while boxing historically has seen its biggest fights often take place in New York or Vegas, it was the Dallas Cowboys’ home of AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas that saw a massive crowd witness history on the evening.

In a Netflix docuseries leading up to the event, Paul revealed a vision he had on an ayahuasca trip to one day fight Tyson. Their teams connected, and eventually the contracts were signed. The 58-year-old Tyson had fought just once since 2005 — an exhibition bout in 2020 against Roy Jones Jr. — but this event was as real as you wanted it to be, even if the main event itself might not have ended with a bang.

The other reason, of course: it was a great business decision for both fighters, and all of those on the rest of the card.

In an event where everything seemed to bend reality a little bit, the most straightforward reason for why Paul and Tyson ended up in the ring together was that it helped their wallets.

The night — and the lead-up — was a big one for the fighters’ business partnerships, too. But while Tyson threw his name into relevancy for a sporting reason for the first time in years, Paul continued the strong momentum he’d built with a series of brands that have their name attached to him.

In the centre of the ring is a massive logo of Celsius Energy Drink and Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions brand.

While he needed Tyson to agree to the event to make it his biggest spectacle yet, and got the much leader cheers on his entrance, Paul — the social media star and businessman — already benefited greatly from the millions of viewers seeing his associated brands — not Tyson’s — on the actual ground the two fighters were on.

 “As a fighter and co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions, I’m all about pushing boundaries and bringing the best to the sport. Whether it’s preparing for fight night or organizing game-changing events like this one, Celsius keeps me energized and performing at my peak. It’s a game-changer, just like what we’re doing at MVP,” Jake Paul said in the lead up to the fight.

Paul said a lot of things in the week, including his desire to “kill” Tyson. While he didn’t accomplish that goal, it’s hard to argue against his success of once again becoming a worldwide headline.

In the moments before a now infamous slap of Tyson to Paul at Thursday’s weigh-in, Paul chugged on a can of Celsius after stepping on the scale. How’s that for some brand awareness?

Friday night — and everything that went into it — was an event like no other before it, and perhaps unlike one we’ll ever see again. Who knows what the future holds for Paul’s career, and perhaps it’ll actually be the last time we’ll actually see Tyson in a ring.

But for at least one night in November 2024, we got a spectacle that delivered on entertainment value promised by the two headliners, even if it was as unconventional a sporting contest that may have ever existed.

Note: Daily Hive was a media guest of Celsius Energy Drink at the fight.

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