Jake Paul unbothered by Mike Tyson fight critics

ARLINGTON, Texas – Within the buildup to Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson, there have been questions on the Netflix boxing headliner being an actual fight, particularly since it featured a 27-year-old squaring off against a 58-year-old.

For anyone who doubted the legitimacy of Paul vs. Tyson, despite the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation sanctioning it as a completely skilled bout, Paul’s words following his unanimous decision win Friday night at AT&T Stadium will certainly not sit well.

“Yeah, definitely a bit,” Paul told reporters on the post-fight press conference, when asked if he went easy on Tyson. “I wanted to present the fans a show, but I didn’t need to hurt someone that didn’t must be hurt.”

Tyson got through the primary two of eight, 2-minute rounds relatively OK. And through those combined first 4 minutes, the fight looked technical. But by the third round, Tyson began to look his age. He was slow and sloppy and hesitant, which allowed Paul to comfortably pick apart Tyson from distance.

Because the seventh round got underway, a lot of the 70,000-plus fans in attendance were booing heavily. The fight ended with boos raining down on Paul and Tyson.

While Paul vs. Tyson is certain to have been certainly one of, if not essentially the most watched event in combat sports history, the immediate response on social media was negative.

Paul’s response?

“Thanks for everybody tuning in and coming. I attempted to present one of the best fight I possibly could but when someone’s just surviving within the ring mainly, it’s hard to make it exciting,” Paul said. “I couldn’t really get him to interact me or slip shots and do something super cool or whatever. But I don’t care what people need to say. They’re all the time gonna have something to say, and it’s what it’s.”

Paul’s manager, Nakisa Bidarian, also didn’t sweat the crticism, saying the fight was all the time going to be received negatively unless Tyson pulled out the victory.

“The one way that individuals would’ve been joyful is that if Jake lost by some means,” Bidarian said. “That will’ve been like, ‘Oh, what an important fight, Mike’s a legend.’ If he knocked out Mike Tyson, it could’ve been rigged. The fight went to eight rounds, so ‘Oh, Mike wasn’t trying. Oh, it wasn’t adequate.’ It was an unbelievable display between a 58-year-old legend and a 27-year-old relatively young boxer. And he actually outboxed the boxer. Jake Paul outboxed Mike Tyson like he said he was gonna do.”

Added Paul: “What can people say? I told everyone what I used to be gonna do is give him a boxing lesson.”