by Keith Idec
JAKE PAUL and Mike Tyson didn’t deliver much entertainment value once the opening bell rang for their eight-round heavyweight fight Friday night in Arlington, Texas.
Fans of both boxers and gawkers worldwide definitely delivered for them, though.
Paul’s MVP Promotions announced Tuesday that the announced crowd of 72,300 at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium produced ticket revenue of $18,117,072 – a U.S. record for a boxing event held outside of the state of Nevada. The gate receipts for Paul-Tyson shattered Texas’ boxing record previously established by the Canelo Alvarez-Billy Joe Saunders card in May 2021 at AT&T Stadium.
The card headlined by Alvarez’s eight-round stoppage of Saunders attracted an actual crowd of 67,054. Ticket revenue from that event was $9,002,020.
The announced crowd on fight night for Alvarez-Saunders was 73,126, but it misleadingly included all stadium and promotional employees, police and emergency personnel and media.
Regardless, crowds for both the Paul-Tyson and Alvarez-Saunders cards exceeded the longstanding U.S. indoor record for boxing of 63,352, which assembled for the heavyweight championship rematch between Muhammad Ali and Leon Spinks in September 1978 at The Superdome in New Orleans.
Paul, who won their boring bout by unanimous decision, and Tyson also attracted what is believed to be the biggest audience to watch a boxing match since approximately 90 million viewers in the U.S. tuned in for the Ali-Spinks rematch on ABC. Netflix announced over the weekend that an estimated 65 million viewers worldwide saw Paul-Tyson at its peak.
Netflix’s projection doesn’t include its projection of subscribers who share passwords, which could bring the total closer to 100 million viewers worldwide.
However many of them there were, they undoubtedly were disappointed by the lack of action and competitive spirit Paul and Tyson provided during an unusual fight that has deservedly drawn heavy scrutiny.
Paul, who is 31 years younger than Tyson, won by huge margins on all three scorecards – 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73. The antagonistic social media star did little to win over fans, however, who considered his official fight with an aged legend to be more scripted entertainment than legitimate competition.
Tyson threw only 97 punches during their contest, which was limited to eight two-minutes to account for Tyson’s age and inactivity. Once revered as “The Baddest Man on the Planet,” Tyson participated in an official fight Friday night for the first time since he quit on his stool against gigantic Irish underdog Kevin McBride in June 2005 at MCI Center in Washington, D.C.
The polarizing Paul further fueled speculation regarding the illegitimacy of their fight during his post-fight press conference. Paul admitted that he carried Tyson to the final bell because boxing’s youngest heavyweight champion of all time was obviously limited physically due to his advanced age.
Paul (11-1, 7 KOs) and Tyson (50-7, 44 KOs, 2 NC) also admitted that they entered the ring injured. Paul, of Westlake, Ohio, claimed he suffered a severely sprained ankle three weeks before they fought, whereas the Brooklyn-bred Tyson wore a brace on his right leg and acknowledged that his knee injury compromised what was already limited mobility.
Tyson later stated that he “almost died” after a medical emergency he suffered on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles late in May, supposedly caused by an ulcer, necessitated a postponement of almost four months. They were originally scheduled to box July 20 at AT&T Stadium.
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