Jake Paul’s farcical victory over Mike Tyson has made global headlines for all the wrong reasons. The event was live streamed to an audience of millions, with very few being left satisfied by what they had seen on a tough night for boxing.
Anyone holding out genuine hope of a Tyson victory was optimistic at best and downright naive at worst. He was never going to stand a chance against a man half his age and in the shape of his life, regardless of boxing ability.
It was always going to go one way, with Iron Mike doing nothing of note save for a few early blows in the opening round. He only threw 97 punches in total, with Paul running rings around him despite being recognised as a worthy opponent by virtually nobody.
Before the event, there were rumours that it would be scripted after the emergence of an unsubstantiated document on social media. It claimed to provide a round-by-round breakdown of what would happen in great detail, predicting a knockout win for Paul.
It was a different outcome in the end, with the YouTube star claiming a points victory after eight dreadful rounds. The truth is that nobody could have scripted such a boring fight, which was essentially a vanity project for Paul at the expense of a living legend.
This writer feels sorry for those who stayed up until the early hours of Saturday morning and parted with their hard-earned cash to watch the fight, which went down like a lead balloon given the circus surrounding it and the lack of entertainment on show.
Some viewers may have felt Tyson would have a chance after watching footage of him in training, but a few selected clips can make anybody look like Muhammad Ali in the same way a YouTube highlights reel can make any footballer look like Lionel Messi.
The only possible conclusion to draw from the fight is that it was not scripted, because why would anybody want to script that?
It says a lot that Tyson slapping Paul at the weigh-in was the most entertaining moment of fight week. It was a huge let-down for anybody hoping to watch a decent scrap, but those who could see through the facade were not expecting much anyway.
Tony Bellew, who tore into Paul while speaking to Express Sport before the fight, made a great point on social media. He suggested that people should resist the temptation to watch these events because the public interest is what keeps them going.
However, with the fight gaining a peak viewership of 65 million on Netflix, it seems there may be no end in sight to these ridiculous spectacles for the foreseeable future. A dark time for the sport of boxing, indeed.
