Influencer Jake Paul (11-1, 7 KOs) easily defeated a very old-looking Mike Tyson (50-7, 44 KOs), winning a wide eight-round unanimous decision in their heavyweight clash on Friday night at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Tyson did reasonably well in round one but then was dominated by the 27-year-old Paul, who appeared to carry him in a fight that looked 100% scripted and fake. It was hard to watch because the 58-year-old Tyson’s mobility was completely gone. Paul looked like he intentionally took it easy on Tyson to avoid the backlash.
The scores
– 79-73
– 80-72
– 79-73
Live results below of the action.
– Undisputed female light Welterweight champion Katie Taylor (24-1, 6 KOs) defeated Amanda Serrano (47-3-1, 31 KOs) by a close 10-round unanimous Decision in their Rematch. The scores were 95-94, 95-94 and 95-94. Taylor, 38, was penalized a point for an accidental head-butt in the eighth round.
She’d cut up Serrano badly from a clash of heads earlier, and the two continued to crash into each other. The cut changed the direction of the fight, allowing Taylor to pull out the valuable championship rounds. With the second victory over Serrano, it’s pointless for them to fight again. Taylor’s colliding and holding style is all wrong for Serrano, who can’t afford to suffer additional bad cuts without it shortening her career.
– WBC Welterweight champion Mario Barrios (29-2-1, 18 KOs) fought to a 12-round split draw against Abel Ramos (28-6-3, 22 KOs). Barrios started well, using his size advantage to get the better of Ramos in rounds one through three. Ramos then came on, dropping Barrios in the sixth and dominating the fight through the ninth round.
Barrios got his second wind to rally in the championship rounds, ten through twelve, to salvage a draw. The scores were 114-112 for Ramos, 113-113, and 116-110 for Barrios. Boxing News 24 scored it for Ramos 114-112. The judge that scored it wide for Barrios seemed like he was in outer space, not watching how badly the champion was struggling from the fourth round.
– Super middleweight Neeraj Goyat 19-4-2 8 KOs) beat Whindersson Nunes (2-3-1 2 KOs) by a six-round unanimous decision in an odd fight. Neither fighter showed much of any skills, but it was good junk food entertainment for fans who like to see brawling. The scores were 60-54, 60-54, and 59-55. This fight was shown on the Netflix portion of the event, and I have no clue why. It was a fight aimed at the casual fans.
– Shadasia Green (16-1, 11 KOs) defeated the previously unbeaten Melinda Watpool (7-1, 2 KOs) by a 10-round split decision to capture the vacant WBO super middleweight title. The scores were 97-93, 96-94 for the 35-year-old Green and 96-94 for Watpool.
– Lightweight Lucas Bahdi (18-0, 15 KOs) stayed unbeaten with a tougher-than-expected 10-round majority decision over Armando Casamonica (14-1, 3 KOs). The judges scores were 95-95, 96-93 and 98-92. It was a good win for Bahdi, but he’s going to have to get a lot better if he hopes to capture a world title at 135. Based on this performance, Bahdi might not even get a world title whiff.
– Featherweight contender Bruce Carrington (15-0, 8 KOs) easily defeated the little-known Dana Coolwell (13-4, 8 KOs) by a lopsided eight-round unanimous decision. The scores were 80-72, 80-72 and 80-72.
The New York native Carrington, 27, knocked Coolwell down twice with left hooks, putting him on the canvas in rounds four and eight, but unable to finish him off. He should have been able to knock out Coolwell, but he didn’t want to put himself at risk of getting clipped by the Aussie.
This fight was a confidence booster for Carrington after his disappointing performance against Sulaiman Segawa on September 27th, which many fans felt he lost. Segawa dominated him pretty well in that fight.
Tyson’s slap of Paul, 27, during the weigh-in yesterday leaves a dark cloud over tonight’s fight, making one suspect that we may see something crazy happen in their fight.
Hopefully, it doesn’t involve a disqualification for the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Tyson, who seems to have a chip on his shoulder about being the underdog against the YouTuber Paul.
The fight that stands out on the mostly pedestrian-level undercard is the rematch between Undisputed female light Welterweight champion Katie Taylor (23-1, 6 KOs) and Amanda Serrano (47-2-1, 31 KOs) in a 10-round fight with the customary two-minute rounds.
In an oddity, WBC light welterweight champion Mario Barrios (29-2, 18 KOs) defends his belt against Abel Ramos (28-6-2, 22 KOs).
Netflix card at 8 pm ET
- Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson
- Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano
- Mario Barrios vs. Abel Ramos
- Neeraj Goyat vs. Whindersson Nunes
Preliminary card on YouTube, at 5:30 pm ET
- Shadasia Green vs. Melinda Watpool
- Lucas Bahdi vs. Armando Casamonica
- Bruce Carrington vs. Dana Coolwell
Taylor-Serrano are getting up in age, with Ireland’s Taylor at 38 and facing 36-year-old Serrano. They’re both young compared to the 58-year-old Mike Tyson in the main event. I don’t know what we’ll get in the Taylor vs. Serrano fight.
Their fight two years ago was controversial, with Taylor winning a 10-round split decision over Serrano in New York on April 30, 2022. Serrano beat the living daylights out of the pure boxer Taylor all night, landing the harder shots and getting the better of her. The judges still gave it to Taylor.
Mike Tyson will return from a lengthy retirement to fight Jake Paul in an eight-rounder tonight. The event will be shown live on Netflix at 8:00 p.m. ET.