Jake Paul appeared to concede that he was only aiming to “hurt” Mike Tyson “a little bit” during their contentious fight, which the YouTuber won on points.
Paul, 27, defeated Tyson, 58, in eight two-minute rounds, with scorecards reading 80-72, 79-73, and 79-73 in his favour. The fight was Tyson’s first professional combat since the heavyweight legend retired in 2005, however he did box Roy Jones Jr in an exhibition in 2020.
During Friday’s bout, which was live streamed on Netflix from AT&T Stadium in Texas, Paul was accused of ‘pulling’ his punches against Tyson.
When asked about this during his post-fight interview, Paul stated, “I was trying to injure him a little bit. I was frightened he’d hurt me, and I was attempting to hurt him…”
Paul appeared coy when he responded, as many fans flooded out of AT&T Stadium, home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. However, by then, many admirers had already left.
At the post-fight press conference, Paul was asked if he had taken his foot off the gas in the later rounds, to which he replied, “Yeah, definitely, definitely a bit.” I wanted to entertain the crowd, but I didn’t want to inflict pain on someone who didn’t deserve it.”
Paul also stated that he did not feel Tyson’s power at any time during the bout.
The victory improved Paul’s professional record to 11-1, with the 27-year-old defeating various mixed martial arts stars and lesser-known boxers.
When asked who he would face next, Paul stated, “Anyone I want […] everyone is next on the list,” and said, “This is the biggest event, with over 120 million people watching on Netflix.” We caused the website to crash.”
Netflix has yet to share viewership numbers for the event.