At the end of a highly anticipated and hyped Netflix event, Jake Paul stunned viewers and professional athletes alike when he was deemed the winner of a boxing match against legendary fighter Mike Tyson.
“It’s such an honor. He’s a legend. He’s the greatest to ever do it. I’m inspired by him,” Paul, 27, said on Friday, November 15, after his unanimous victory. “This man is an icon. It’s an honor to be able to fight him. It was really tough, like I expected it to be.”
While Tyson, 58, previously said he was going to bring “the devil” to the ring, it wasn’t enough to defeat the social media influencer.
“I didn’t prove nothing to anybody, only to myself. I’m not one of those guys that wants to please the world,” Tyson said after his loss, which was his first boxing match since 2005. “I’m only happy with what I can do.”
The rest of the sports world, however, seemed largely unimpressed by Paul’s victory. Keep scrolling for all of their reactions:
Conor McGregor
McGregor, a pro MMA fighter, was dismayed by the tournament.
“A 16-minute spar in sparring gloves. F— off,” he wrote via X in a since-deleted post.
Terence Crawford
“I love Mike Tyson, but they giving him too much credit,” boxer Crawford wrote via X. “He looked like trash, to train that long and only throw 97 punches the whole fight is crazy. I’m just glad he didn’t get hurt out there.”
Tony Bellew
The retired British boxer was glad to see “stupid idiot kid” Paul showing “respect” for Tyson by not going in for a KO.
“I don’t like this stupid idiot kid but I will say this. He stopped beating on Mike there and showed him some respect and dignity by letting him survive,” Bellew wrote via X. “He didn’t go for the KO there he stepped off him and let him be. Mike, we all adore you king your [sic] a superhero to all of us from the proper fight business!”
Magic Johnson
Johnson called the matchup “just sad” in a tweet.
“I cut it off because I couldn’t watch anymore. It’s sad to see Mike Tyson like this because I went to every Tyson fight,” the NBA alum wrote. “This fight tonight was not great for boxing.”
Sydney Leroux
The soccer star, who was rooting for Tyson, called Paul’s win “pathetic on all accounts” in an X message.
Mike Francesa
The sportscaster regretted taking “the time to even watch” the match.
“Anybody who had anything to do with that Tyson/Paul debacle owes the public an apology,” Francesa penned via X. “What garbage.”
Read the full article here
