By Keith Idek
JAKE PAUL and Mike Tyson didn’t give much entertainment value when the opening bell rang for their eight-round heavyweight fight Friday night in Arlington, Texas.
Fans of both boxers and gawkers around the world certainly delivered for him.
Paul’s MVP Promotions announced Tuesday that an announced crowd of 72,300 at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium generated ticket revenue of $18,117,072 – a U.S. record for a boxing event held outside the state of Nevada. Gate receipts for Paul-Tyson broke the Texas boxing record previously set 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 the Sounders, drew an original crowd of 67,054. Ticket revenue from the event was $9,002,020.
The announced fight night crowd for Alvarez-Saunders was 73,126, but misleadingly included all stadium and promotional employees, police and emergency personnel and media.
Regardless, the crowds for both the Paul-Tyson and Alvarez-Saunders cards surpassed the long-standing American indoor boxing record of 63,352, set in September 1978 for the heavyweight championship rematch between Muhammad Ali and Leon Spinks at the Superdome in New Orleans. Gathered for the match.
Paul, who won their boring bout by unanimous decision, and Tyson also drew the largest audience ever to watch a boxing match as nearly 90 million viewers in the U.S. tuned in for the Ali-Spinks rematch on ABC. What did Netflix announced over the weekend that an estimated 65 million viewers worldwide watched Paul Tyson at his peak.
Netflix’s projection does not include an estimate of subscribers who share passwords, which could bring the worldwide total closer to 100 million viewers.
While there were many of them, they were undoubtedly disappointed by the lack of action and competitive spirit provided during an extraordinary fight that was deservedly heavily scrutinized.
Paul, who is 31 years younger than Tyson, won by huge margins on all three scorecards – 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73. The defiant social media star did little to win over fans, however, who saw his official fight with an aging legend as more scripted entertainment than a legitimate contest.
Tyson landed only 97 punches during his bout, which was limited to eight two minutes due to Tyson’s age and inactivity. Once revered as “the baddest man on the planet,” Tyson took part in an official fight for the first time on Friday night when he took on big Irish underdog Kevin McBride in June 2005 at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. Resigned on the stool.
The polarizing Paul further fueled speculation about the illegitimacy of his fight during his post-fight press conference. Paul admitted that he took Tyson to the last bell because boxing’s youngest ever heavyweight champion was obviously physically limited by his advanced age.
Paul (11-1, 7 KOs) and Tyson (50-7, 44 KOs, 2 NC) also admitted they entered the ring injured. Paul, of Westlake, Ohio, claimed to have suffered a badly sprained ankle three weeks before the fight, while Tyson, who hails from Brooklyn, wore a brace on his right leg and admitted to a knee injury. Compromised with previously limited mobility.
Tyson later said he “almost died” on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles in late May after a medical emergency, caused by an ulcer, necessitated a nearly four-month layoff. They were originally scheduled to box on July 20 at AT&T Stadium.
