Jake Paul defeats Mike Tyson in lackluster showdown at Dallas Cowboys' home

I tried to give the best fight I possibly could but when someone’s just surviving in the ring basically, it’s hard to make it exciting,

Paul continued

Yeah, definitely a bit,

Paul said during the post-fight press conference after being asked if he went easy on Tyson

We needed to see Mike Tyson get knocked out; that would have been true sport!”

And yes, to highlight the problem with the inauthenticity of this fight – to highlight how it ridiculed actual sport – might sound like implying

He got a phone call from a good friend of his and a big supporter, his excellency Turki Alalshikh, when he was in the locker room just before he went out,

Tyson's team revealed

First and foremost, Mike Tyson — it's an honor to be able to fight him,

said Paul

Magic Johnsonbasketball player

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. This fight tonight was not great for boxing."

Magic Johnson typed

You all can say you wasted your time, I didn’t. That’s Iron Mike Tyson. You got to see him box. He’s 58 years old. He made you believe he could do it. He didn’t go down. Dude is an actual living legend."

A fourth fan added

I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn't want to hurt someone that didn't need to be hurt,

Paul said afterwards

I think Jake let him live.

And speaking to Mail Sport after the fight, Jake's brother Logan said of Tyson

He's tough, proud of him, weathered the storm against a young brute named Jake Paul.

He added

The gloves Mike has on are looking heavily padded while Jake has on Grants which are full on punchers gloves!

He tweeted

I don’t think so.”

Pressed on whether he thought Friday night would be his final appearance in a boxing ring, the Brooklyn native added

I can’t use that for excuses,

said Tyson, who landed just 18 of 97 punches (18.6%) in the contest, compared to 78 of 278 (28.1%) by Paul

I don’t know. It depends on the situation,

he said

Yeah, but I can’t use that as an excuse. If I did, I wouldn’t be in here,

Tyson said

You look at the numbers, and I hate to say it, but they're kinda sad."

When the stats flashed up on a graphic during the fight, one commentator forlornly said

It was just sad to see a legend like Mike Tyson not able to do much inside the ring."

One said

Mike Tyson’s next contract should call for him to land at least 25 punches."

Another wrote

I love Mike Tyson, but they giving him too much credit

WBA light middleweight champion Terence Crawford added

Joe Roganpodcaster

I'm getting ready to watch this Tyson vs Jake Paul fight like I'm watching someone cast a spell that I hope actually works

Before the fight began, podcaster and UFC ringside personality Joe Rogan tweeted