The Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight should have never happened. 

Tyson is at an age when a bad blow can and would permanently damage his health. However, many claim that Tyson “didn’t need the money,” and while he didn’t, the payout Tyson received from the fight more than tripled his net worth, adding $40 million to his $10 million net worth. 

For those who are upset with the action of the fight, what did you expect? Yeah, he’s Mike Tyson, but he’s borderline geriatric. The stomach issue he had that initially delayed the fight didn’t help either. There was no way that Tyson had a hope of winning that fight, despite how much we all wanted to see a first-round knockout.

The fight stats don’t paint a good picture for Tyson, either. While Tyson is a relatively short fighter, his height and reach have rarely hindered him, even against fighters who tower over him.  

Throughout the night, Jake Paul threw 278 punches and landed 78, a respectable 28%. Tyson, on the other hand, threw 97 punches and only landed 18, resulting in an 18% total. That means that, on average, Tyson landed only two punches per round. Tyson was in no shape to be in that ring, and everyone knew it. He was biting his glove, perhaps reminiscing about his fight against Holyfield.

One thing that was overshadowed by Jack Paul’s bad guy persona was the amount of good he had done in boxing. He’s advocated for better pay for women fighters and got more people to care about the sport. MMA has well-overtaken boxing as the fan-favorite fighting sport with the meteoric rise of UFC. That is a fact. However, these exhibition fights Jake Paul has put on have put more eyes on the sport to help it compete.

While there is questionable legitimacy around Jake Paul’s fights, the fights that took place before Paul and Tyson’s main card would have never had the media attention if it weren’t for Paul. Both the Taylor vs. Serrano fight and the Barrios vs. Ramos fight went the distance and were exciting, providing the sport of boxing with viewers who will tune back in for future fights.

In the end, was this fight a good thing for the sport? I say no. While it brought attention to established professional fighters, it also delegitimized the sport and led people to see it as a place for big-money celebrity “fights.”