'Mockery of boxing' - National media react to Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson in brutal verdict

YouTube sensation Jake Paul came out victorious against two-time heavyweight champion Mike Tyson on Friday night with a unanimous points win in Texas.

Millions watched the bout on Netflix as Paul, 27, defeated 58-year-old Tyson in front of 70,000 fans. Thousands of fans left the arena before the conclusion of the fight, which saw Paul win after 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73 scores from the judges.

The defeat is Tyson's seventh of his professional career, with one of the sport's greats a shadow of his former self, as expected. The controversial fight continued to split opinion, with boos heard as the fight drew to a close.

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Former boxers and pundits have had their say on the matter. Here, MEN brings you a round-up of what the reaction has been like in the national media.

'Mockery of boxing'

Kal Sajad of BBC Sport wrote: "Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but the result is no surprise and will embolden those critics who felt it made a mockery of boxing. Tyson said his heart was not in the sport following a loss to Kevin McBride in 2005.

"From early on it was clear this was a man nearing his sixties, who still carried a little power but no stamina.

"The general feeling was if Tyson was to win he would need to knock Paul out early and, though he landed a right hand in the first, Paul started connecting cleanly with jabs and wobbled Tyson with a left hand in the third.

"Paul - said to be wearing the world's most expensive shorts, which were encrusted with diamonds and worth $1m - began to pepper a man 31 years his senior.

"Tyson, a black brace over his right knee, was making Paul miss with some head speed at times. He lunged in with a hook which missed by at least a foot in the fifth, illustrating just how much of a difference the age was making.

"The veteran felt more damage in the seventh round as a left hook from Paul landed on the temple. By this point, most fans seemed eager to hear the final bell."

'Difficult to watch'

Andy Scott of Sky Sports said: "It was incredibly difficult to watch, painful at times.

"Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should. It's up for debate whether that should have fallen under the umbrella of a professional boxing match, I'm not so sure it should have.

"Serious questions need to be asked about safeguarding of boxers. I don't think a 58-year-old man should have been allowed to step into that ring. Why was that allowed to happen?

"A few months ago, we saw shots of Tyson in a wheelchair and walking with a cane. He certainly didn't have any legs underneath him during the fight.

"Tyson could knock me and 90 per cent of people out even now, if he had the legs to do it. He's still got the missiles, but he hasn't got any way of launching them.

"Jake Paul deserves some respect for propping up Mike Tyson towards the end when he could have pulled the trigger. He obviously could have tried to knock Tyson out and I for one am pleased he didn't."

'Sad and abject bout'

Donald McRae of The Guardian wrote: "The fact that Mike Tyson was defeated so comprehensively on points was meant to give Paul a semblance of authenticity in the unforgiving business of boxing. But it didn’t mean much in the end.

"Tyson is the former world champion who, in the mid-to-late 1980s, spread awe and terror as he tore through the heavyweight ranks. But, in the dog days of 2024, Tyson was trying to overcome years of abuse, after far too many drugs and far too much drinking, as well as recent troubling issues with a bleeding stomach ulcer and acute sciatica. Two years ago Tyson was in such pain that he had to be pushed around in a wheelchair and, this May, he threw up so much blood on a flight that his manufactured scrap with Paul had to be postponed for six months. He now looks like he also has a bad right knee.

"This was Paul’s opponent in a sad and abject bout. The fight had been reduced to eight rounds, lasting just two minutes each, and that relative brevity offered a modicum of relief. Paul received the unanimous verdict by two scores of 79-73 and a shutout 80-72.

"The near sold-out crowd at the AT&T Stadium was fiercely partisan in their early support of Tyson. Ninety minutes before the ring-walks, footage of Paul’s arrival was greeted with a muted hum. But we then saw Tyson walking slowly to his locker room. His jacket was emblazoned with his famous old boxing alias: “Iron Mike”. The huge and sustained roar was strangely moving."

'Tyson and Lewis to fight again'

Andreas Hale of ESPN wrote: "Truthfully, nobody should want to see anything like this again, because it is impossible to live up to the expectations. Especially when you consider how lethargic Tyson looked against an opponent 31 years his junior. However, money talks and there will always be room for convincing fans that an iconic figure like Tyson has a chance.

"Paul, for better or worse, has proved to be the biggest draw in boxing after Friday's spectacle. Between his ability to pull emotion out of fans by playing the heel and his growing boxing skill set that has kept him afloat by winning a majority of his fights, Paul's unlikely rise in the sport isn't going to die soon. However, how much longer can he fight over-the-hill opponents whose best years are behind them?

"Paul's likely best course of action will be to build his résumé by facing "boxers" (or anybody with a pro boxing record). It was a course he was on when he faced journeymen Andre August and Ryan Bourland in late 2023 and early 2024, respectively. But then he pivoted toward the money fights, when the opportunity to fight the iconic Tyson presented itself. The well has likely run dry on MMA fighters not named Conor McGregor, so Paul will likely look for boxers to pick off, build his record and hope to get ranked by a sanctioning body in his pursuit of cruiserweight championship gold.

"And that's the scary thing about where we are. There's a universe where Tyson and 59-year-old former champ Lennox Lewis will fight again. It really shouldn't happen, but it could with the magnitude of this event and the extraordinary financial upside.

"Regardless of the result or the negative reactions, the excitement the fight brought to our imaginations is addicting and will lead to imitations down the line. There's just too much money to be made."

"Sooner or later, the jig will be up. Still, Paul is smart enough to know just how long he can play this game and prey on the curiosity of fans. He still yearns to be a world champion, and while challenging Canelo Alvarez to a boxing match still seems ridiculous, so did a sanctioned boxing match with Tyson that not only came to fruition but became one of the biggest boxing events of all time."