YouTuber boxer Jake Paul has defeated one of the greatest fighters ever: former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, who is more than twice his age.

Paul, 27, won the fight via unanimous points decision at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas – home of the Dallas Cowboys and the largest NFL stadium in the US.

The fight was already controversial, but then arguably failed to live up to the hype. In the final two rounds, there were boos from the crowd after a perceived lack of action.

Afterwards, the two praised each other. Paul said: “This man is an icon and it’s just an honor to fight him. And he’s clearly the toughest and baddest man on the planet.”

Tyson, 58, described Paul as a “good fighter” but rejected suggestions he was out to prove anything.

“I didn’t prove anything to anyone but myself,” he said.

Boxing careers compared

This wasn’t Paul’s first professional fight. The American YouTube star made his debut in 2020 and his most high-profile clash was against Tyson Fury’s brother last year Tommy Furywhich he lost by split decision.

The so-called “Problem Child” has since defeated former UFC contender Nate Diaz, professional boxer Andre August, former Gold Gloves champion Ryan Bourland and most recently MMA fighter Mike Perry.

In contrast, “Iron Mike” Tyson was among the best heavyweight boxers of all time.

During his career he knocked out 44 opponents. He retired from professional boxing in 2005 after a defeat to Kevin McBride.

He returned to the ring in 2020 for a fight against fellow boxing icon Roy Jones ended in an unofficial draw.

‘Someone is being put to sleep’

Earlier this week, Paul said he believed the fight wouldn’t get that far. “No, someone’s being put to sleep,” he said. “It’s going to be a war, and we’re both heavy fighters. It won’t last the full sixteen minutes.”

Tyson said: “I’ve been through so many ups and downs since my last fight with Kevin McBride.

“I’ve been to rehab. I’ve been to jail, locked up. Never in a million years would I have believed I would do this.”

Several states would not allow the fight to go ahead, and the Texas Athletic Commission only agreed to the fight if there were changes, due to Tyson’s age.

It limited the match to eight rounds of a maximum of two minutes instead of three. Both boxers also had to wear heavier gloves, designed to reduce the force of punches.

The fight was initially scheduled for July 20, but was postponed when Tyson suffered a flare-up of a stomach ulcer.

Taylor defends the title

Meanwhile, between the undercard fights, Irish boxer Katie Taylor successfully defended her super lightweight world title against Puerto Rico’s Amanda Serrano.

But it was tight. Taylor claimed the rematch 95-94 in front of all three judges in an epic battle.

The fight came two and a half years after the pair fought at Madison Square Garden, which Taylor won via split decision.

Bout suffered from buffering

Earlier in the evening, thousands of Netflix users in the US reported reporting issues, with some posting on social media about buffering.

At one point, more than 98,000 people had reported problems, according to Downdetector, which tracks outages.