A bulked-up looking Jake Paul (11-1, 7 KOs) dominated former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson (50-7, 44 KOs), winning a lopsided eight-round unanimous decision in their celebrity-level match on Netflix on Friday night in front of a large crowd at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Tyson started out well in round one, landing a few shots, but then fought like his legs had been frozen for the remainder of the fight. He couldn’t get to the 27-year-old Paul to land any of his power shots from rounds two through eight, and the fight turned into a big disappointment.
The scores were 79-73, 80-72 and 79-73.
Undercard results
- Undisputed female light Welterweight champion Katie Taylor (24-1, 6 KOs) did a bang-up job of beating Amanda Serrano (47-3-1, 31 KOs), winning a razor-thin 10-round unanimous decision. After a slow start, Taylor turned the tide by nullifying Serrano’s offense by using holding and repeated head clashes. Taylor cut Serrano badly with one of her bull-like head rams, forcing her to fight with just one good eye for most of the second half. In the eighth, the referee finally had seen enough and docked a point from Taylor for leading with her head in Billy Goat fashion. The judges’ scores were 95-94, 95-94 and 95-94. The head-butting was the difference in the fight.
- WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios (29-2-1, 18 KOs) took a lot of punishment, fighting to a 12-round split draw against fringe contender Abel Ramos (28-6-3, 22 KOs). Barrios was dropped hard in round six but came on late in the tenth round to out-punch Ramos to earn a draw. The scores were 114-112 for Ramos, 113-113, and 116-110 for Barrios. This is easily the most entertaining fight on the card thus far, and we can only hope the remaining fights live up to this.
- Super middleweight Neeraj Goyat (19-4-2 8 KOs) had his way with novice Whindersson Nunes (2-3-1 2 KOs), winning a six-round unanimous decision. Goyat wailed away at the less-skilled Nunes, hitting him with everything but the kitchen sink, but lacked the power to knock him out. The judges’ scores were 60-54, 60-54, and 59-55.
- Shadasia Green (16-1, 11 KOs) used pressure and power punching to defeat Melinda Watpool (7-1, 2 KOs) and win the vacant WBO super middleweight belt. Watpool made good adjustments in the fight, crowding Green, 35, and working her to the body and head. Green was able to hold on to win by the scores of 97- 93 and 96-94, and another judge scored it 96-94 for Watpool.
- Lightweight fringe contender Lucas Bahdi (18-0, 15 KOs) defeated Armando Casamonica (14-1, 3 KOs) by a 10-round majority decision. It was a fight that saw a lot of back-and-forth action early on, with Casamonica firing back hard combinations to the favorite Bahdi’s head. In the second half of the contest, Bahdi pulled away, burying Casamonica with activity to win the rounds. The scores were 95-95, 96-93 and 98-92.
- Featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (15-0, 8 KOs) stayed unbeaten with an eight-round unanimous decision win over Australia’s Dana Coolwell (13-4, 8 KOs). Carrington knocked Coolwell, 25, down in rounds four and eight with perfectly placed left hooks that landed right on the button. Coolwell showed a lot of heart to get up from both knockdowns and continue to fight. He was no match for the skills, power, and pedigree of the highly-ranked featherweight contender Carrington. The scores were 80-73, 80-73, and 80-73.
Preview
There’s a lot of interest in how well Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs) will perform after being retired for 19 years and facing a much younger 27-year-old Jake Paul. Physically, Tyson looks in superior shape than the pudgy-looking Paul, and his hand speed, power, and punches look far more formidable.
It’s obvious from Tyson’s workouts that he’s more gifted than Jake, who appears to be on the level of a journeyman fighter in terms of speed, skill, and power.
Card on Netflix
Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson
Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano
Mario Barrios vs. Abel Ramos
Neeraj Goyat vs. Whindersson Nunes
The co-feature fight on tonight’s card is undisputed super lightweight champion Katie Taylor (23-1, 6 KOs) facing former seven-division world champion Amanda Serrano (47-2-1, 31 KOs) in a 10-round rematch. Taylor beat Serrano by an unpopular 10-round split decision two years ago in 2022, and many feel the judges got it wrong that night.
Rest of the card on YouTube
Shadasia Green vs. Melinda Watpool
Lucas Bahdi vs. Armando Casamonica
Bruce Carrington vs. Dana Coolwell
Wealthy influencer Jake Paul will try to show that he can beat former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, now 58, in the eight-round headliner tonight in a clash that will be streamed live on Netflix for subscribers from the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The main card starts at 8:00 pm ET.
