Paul v Tyson official punch stats reveal damning truth behind controversial fight

Mike Tyson was once the greatest of a generation but that time has long since passed

Karl Matchett
Saturday 16 November 2024 08:00 GMT
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Mike Tyson makes ring walk for his first fight in 19 years

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The controversial and much-discussed fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul ended up as seemingly a less-than-thrilling occasion for many fans who went, with the AT&T Stadium emptying in some areas before the main event had even finished.

Part of that was down to apparent dissatisfaction from the spectators, with boos hurled down at a lack of action in the second half of the fight in particular.

Paul, 27, beat Tyson, 58, on points following eight two-minute rounds, with the scorecards reading 80-72, 79-73, 79-73 in the younger man’s favour.

It was Tyson’s first professional bout since 2005 - and in truth it showed, with the veteran unable to display the power or the consistency in getting punches away that he was known for in his true fighting years.

Paul may have been a comfortable winner on points, but the post-fight punching stats laid bare the truth of how little Tyson was able to impact on his opponent.

CompuBox, which tallies jabs and thrown punches across the course of the bout, revealed that Tyson managed to make connection with only 18 punches in total across the eight rounds, with four of his 13 power punches body landing and none of his five attempted jabs doing so.

In contrast, Paul connected 78 punches and body landed more of them - 20 - than Tyson landed anywhere at all, while 31 jabs to Tyson’s five also showed the disparity between them.

Indeed, in the third round Paul landed almost as many punches in that two-minute spell, 16, as Tyson did across the entire fight.

(Getty Images for Netflix © 2024)

While the crowd certainly made their feelings known at points, these numbers and then Paul’s post-fight admission that he was “trying to hurt [Tyson] a little bit” will only increase the feeling this was less than the full-blown battle some were hoping for.

Thankfully for the viewers, they saw rather better fare earlier when Katie Taylor claimed another victory over Amanda Serrano in an all-out slugfest.

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