Sports
Jake Paul defeats Mike Tyson with ease in Netflix spectacle
In a display that fell short of even the most measured expectations that come with gimmick fights, Jake Paul breezed past a 58-year-old Mike Tyson on Friday night in a bout that was heavy on nostalgia and bombast but lacking in any sort of competitive satisfaction.
Tyson landed just 18 punches in eight sluggish rounds. Paul, the 27-year-old influencer who is far better at promotion than boxing, followed suit by just letting them both get to the end for a decision. By then, they were both surely richer by millions and the fight that didn’t matter in the first place proved to be one that fans wanted to quickly forget.
It was also a mixed night for Netflix, which streamed the bout to its hundreds of millions of subscribers without charging extra fees, but struggled to keep up with clearly high demand and widespread complaints of freezing, buffering and resolution problems.
“I wanted to give the fans a show but I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt,” Paul told reporters afterward.
For about 60 seconds, it looked like Tyson might thrill the packed AT&T Stadium crowd in Arlington, Texas, with a momentary flashes of the presence he had during his heyday in the ’80s and early ’90s. But for the next 15 minutes, plus some breaks for deep breaths, he looked exactly like a man nearing his 60th birthday who hadn’t fought a professional boxing match in 19 years.
Paul spent much of the fight dancing around Tyson. He lowered his arms often and taunted the legendary knockout artist to try to get close. But Tyson never built up any offense, and went long stretches without even throwing punches. Paul pieced him up with elementary combinations and some sharp left hooks, but even his glancing blows drew some reaction from a clearly underwhelmed crowd seeking any kind of highlight.
Afterward, Paul said it was an honor to share the ring with Tyson and called the former champion the GOAT.
As for the exhausted Tyson, he said he was “totally happy” with his performance, while admitting he went into the fight with an injury. He refused to elaborate.
He did say that he might like to fight again, and offered to fight Paul’s brother, Logan Paul, who was standing in the ring. Logan Paul, a WWE wrestler who had an exhibition with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2021, shot back a puzzled look and a quick retort: “I’ll kill you, Mike.”
Netflix declined comment on its technical issues, which came in the leadup to the Tyson-Paul bout and especially undercut the most thrilling bout on the card, Katie Taylor’s controversial decision win over Amanda Serrano. It was Taylor’s second win over her rival and a high profile followup to their first match in April 2022 that sold out Madison Square Garden. Serrano, clearly gutted by the judges’ scores, tearfully pledged to keep chasing big moments for her sport.
Hardly anyone, conversely, will be calling for a rematch of the main event between Paul and Tyson. The louder calls will almost certainly be for Tyson to step away from the ring for good. And, perhaps, for Paul to fight legitimate competitors who are active in the sport.
It’s unclear, of course, if Paul wants to do that. His 11-1 record is padded with wins over subpar competition, and his one loss was to Tommy Fury, who boxes but had been better known as a reality TV personality and the half brother of Tyson Fury, the heavyweight star.
Paul didn’t call out any new opponents, but did say that he was the route for boxers to make big paydays, and repeated his claim that he could deliver that even to Canelo Alvarez, who is perhaps the sport’s most bankable star right now.
Paul claimed in the leadup to the fight that he was earning $40 million for the bout with Tyson, though the actual earnings for both headliners was not made public. Clearly, getting in the ring was a victory for both men even though their display barely qualified as a fight.
“There was a point where I was just like, he’s not really engaging back,” Paul said, adding: “I could just tell that his age was showing a little bit.”
Tyson, one of the biggest stars in sports when he was at his height, looked like a shell of the boxer who last fought professionally in 2005. Even that Tyson quit on his stool before the seventh round against journeyman Kevin McBride.
Still, he opened the door for Friday night’s bout with an exhibition four years ago against Roy Jones Jr., a draw that featured Paul on the undercard early in his boxing foray.
On Friday night, the wear on Tyson was evident. The YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul was more comfortable with his technique and used his three-inch height advantage to keep Tyson out of range.
While it was clear Tyson trained significantly, as evidenced by his flashes of power in the first few rounds, he had little hope of matching Paul’s endurance.
Just six months ago, Tyson suffered a medical emergency on a flight that left him throwing up blood and eventually losing 26 pounds, he said in the buildup to the fight. While the two-and-a-half-inch ulcer in his stomach didn’t prevent the rescheduled bout from taking place, its effects clearly played a major role Friday.
The bout was fought with 14-ounce gloves — rather than the traditional 10-ounce gloves — over the course of eight two-minute rounds, as opposed to the typical 12 three-minute rounds for men’s championship fights.
At the weigh-ins Thursday, Tyson delivered a stiff slap to Paul after Paul appeared to step on one of his feet. Paul said later the same day: “It’s personal now. He must die.”
Paul joins a list of Buster Douglas, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, Danny Williams and the aforementioned McBride as the men who have beaten Tyson.
Tyson’s loss went on his professional record, lowering his career mark to 50-7.
Required reading
(Photo: Al Bello / Getty Images for Netflix © 2024)
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An intense brawl broke out during the Eagles-Commanders game in the fourth quarter Saturday night, resulting in three ejections.
The fight began after Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley scored on a 2-point conversion to boost his team’s lead to 19 points with less than five minutes left.
Washington’s Javon Kinlaw and Quan Martin and Eagles offensive lineman Tyler Steen were disqualified after being flagged for unnecessary roughness.
There was some pushing and shoving and a lot of jawing, and officials threw six flags as the chaos ensued.
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Tyler Steen (56) of the Philadelphia Eagles and Mike Sainristil (0) of the Washington Commanders fight in the fourth quarter at Northwest Stadium Dec. 20, 2025, in Landover, Md. (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
Eventually, order was restored, and Barkley, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner spoke to each other.
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The Eagles won the game, 29-18, to clinch their second straight division title, becoming the first team to win back-to-back NFC East titles since the 2004 Eagles did it.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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UCLA women’s basketball coach Cori Close could not have imagined a better way for her team to wrap up nonconference play than Saturday afternoon’s 106-44 trouncing of Long Beach State at Pauley Pavilion.
Coming off Tuesday’s 115-28 triumph over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo — UCLA’s largest margin of victory during the NCAA era — the Bruins picked up where they left off, leading wire-to-wire for their fifth consecutive win since suffering their lone loss to Texas on Nov. 26.
“We’re growing … we had a couple of lapses today and we’re not there yet, but we’re heading in the right direction,” Close said. “I love the selflessness of this team.”
Senior guard Gabriela Jaquez led the way with 17 points and made five of six three-point shots. Angela Dugalic added 13 points while Gianna Kneepkens had 10 points and 10 rebounds. All 11 Bruins who played scored at least one basket.
UCLA forward Sienna Betts, top, and Long Beach State forward Kennan Ka dive for the ball during the Bruins’ win Saturday.
(Jessie Alcheh / Associated Press)
Playing their last game in Westwood until Jan. 3, when they will host crosstown rival USC, the Bruins (11-1 overall, 1-0 in Big Ten) looked every bit like the No. 4 team in the country, improving to 6-0 at home. They are ranked fourth in both the Associated Press and coaches polls behind Connecticut, Texas and South Carolina.
“I’m really proud of our nonconference schedule. Not many local teams are willing to play us, so I want to compliment Long Beach State,” Close said. “Our starting guards [Charlisse Leger-Walker and Kiki Rice] combined for 17 assists and one turnover. We have depth and balance and that’s a great luxury to have.”
Jaquez scored nine of the Bruins’ first 12 points. She opened the scoring with a three-pointer from the top of the key and added triples on back-to-back possessions to increase the margin to eight points. Her fourth three-pointer, from the right corner, extended the lead to 21-5.
Sienna Betts’ jumper in the lane put UCLA up by 19 at the end of the first quarter. The sophomore finished with 14 points and senior Lauren Betts added 17. The sisters’ parents, Michelle and Andy, played volleyball and basketball, respectively, for Long Beach State. Sienna wears her mom’s No. 16 while Lauren dons her dad’s No. 51.
Rice’s steal and layup made it 46-18 with 3:28 left in the first half and Leger-Walker’s tip-in at the buzzer gave the Bruins a 34-point advantage at halftime. Rice had a complete game, contributing 15 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, four steals and one block.
The result continued the Bruins’ recent dominance against the Beach. UCLA has won six straight head-to-head meetings, including a 51-point blowout in the schools’ previous matchup last December, when Close became the all-time winningest coach in program history by earning her 297th victory to surpass Billie Moore (296-181). Long Beach State has not beaten the Bruins since 1987 under Joan Bonvicini, who posted a 16-1 record versus UCLA in her 12 seasons at the Beach from 1979 to 1991.
The Bruins’ primary focus on defense was slowing down sophomore guard JaQuoia Jones-Brown, who entered Saturday averaging 17.2 points per game. She scored 10 of the Beach’s 11 points in the first quarter but was held scoreless the rest of the way. She has scored in double figures in nine of 10 games. Guard Christy Reynoso added six points for Beach (0-10 overall, 0-2 in Big West).
The Bruins travel to Columbus on Dec. 28 to face No. 21 Ohio State (9-1).
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Despite dropping their regular-season finale to in-state rival Texas, the Texas A&M Aggies qualified for the College Football Playoff and earned the right to host a first-round game at Kyle Field.
Nick Saban, who won seven national championships during his storied coaching career, experienced his fair share of hostile environments on road trips.
But the former Alabama coach and current ESPN college football analyst floated a surprising theory about how Texas A&M turns up the volume to try to keep opposing teams off balance.
A view of the midfield logo before the game between the Texas A&M Aggies and the LSU Tigers at Kyle Field on Oct. 26, 2024 in College Station, Texas. (Tim Warner/Getty Images)
While Saban did describe Kyle Field as one of the sport’s “noisiest” atmospheres, he also claimed the stadium’s operators have leaned on artificial crowd noise to pump up the volume during games.
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“I did more complaining to the SEC office—it was more than complaining that I don’t really want to say on this show—about this is the noisiest place. Plus, they pipe in noise… You can’t hear yourself think when you’re playing out there,” he told Pat McAfee on Thursday afternoon.
Adding crowd noise during games does not explicitly violate NCAA rules. However, the policy does mandate a certain level of consistency.
A general view of Kyle Field before the start of the game between Texas A&M Aggies and the Alabama Crimson Tide at Kyle Field on Oct. 12, 2019 in College Station, Texas. (John Glaser/USA TODAY Sports)
According to the governing body’s rulebook: “Artificial crowd noise, by conference policy or mutual consent of the institutions, is allowed. The noise level must be consistent throughout the game for both teams. However, all current rules remain in effect dealing with bands, music and other sounds. When the snap is imminent, the band/music must stop playing. As with all administrative rules, the referee may stop the game and direct game management to adjust.”
General view of fans watch the play in the first half between the Texas A&M Aggies and the Ball State Cardinals at Kyle Field on Sept. 12, 2015 in College Station, Texas. (Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
Regardless of the possible presence of artificial noise, the Miami Hurricanes will likely face a raucous crowd when Saturday’s first-round CFP game kicks off at 12 p.m. ET.
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