Tyson vs. Paul: What the statistics tell us about the fight

Mike Tyson will take part in a sanctioned fight for the first time since June 2005 when he takes on Jake Paul in an eight-round heavyweight bout on Friday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas (Netflix, 8 p.m. ET). The last time Tyson, 58, fought in an official fight, he suffered a sixth-round TKO against Kevin McBride. He did not fight again until November 28, 2020, when he met Roy Jones Jr. in an eight-round contest.

During his first reign as heavyweight champion, which began on November 22, 1986 with a victory over Trevor Berbick to win the WBC title, Tyson was one of the most dominant boxers in modern history. Over the next three-plus years, Tyson achieved a record of 10-0 with nine knockouts, unified all the title belts and became undisputed champion. He landed 16.3 of 34.5 punches per round (47.2%, nearly 15% higher than the heavyweight division average).

Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs) was also very effective with his power punches, landing an incredible 55.1% (12.4 per round) – the division average is 39.7% (9.5 per round).

Paul (10-1, 7 KOs), a YouTuber turned prizefighter, began boxing professionally in January 2020. He fought primarily against former UFC fighters and other YouTubers, scoring knockout victories in four of his first five fights.

Their fight on Friday will be fought with two-minute rounds and with 14-ounce gloves. Heavyweight boxing matches are regularly fought in three-minute rounds with 10-ounce gloves.

To better understand the age difference between Tyson and Paul, when Paul was born in January 1997, Tyson was already a 30-year-old champion with a record of 45-2, 39 KOs.

Given this difference in experience – and age – let’s look at the fight by the numbers.

• 31: Age difference in years between Tyson (58) and Paul (27).

• 47: Tyson’s fights before Paul’s birth in 1997.

• 24: Years have passed since Tyson last fought professionally (a sixth-round loss to Kevin McBride in 2005).

• 47.2: Percentage of punches landed by Tyson during his first reign as heavyweight champion (10 fights, from November 1986 to July 1989). It was almost 15% above the heavyweight class average (32.4%).

• 55.1: Percentage of power punches landed by Tyson during his first reign as heavyweight champion, 15.4% higher than the heavyweight division average (39.7%).

• 20: Tyson’s age when he became the youngest heavyweight champion in history by defeating Trevor Berbick for the WBC title in November 1986 in Las Vegas.

• 42-1: Tyson’s betting odds to defeat James “Buster” Douglas in February 1990. Douglas stopped Tyson in round 10, the biggest upset in boxing history.

• -235: ESPN BET betting odds on Paul winning the fight. Tyson is the underdog at +185 (as of November 13th).

• 22: Tyson’s career first-round victories are the third most among heavyweight champions (Shannon Briggs with 30 and Jack Dempsey with 25).

• 12: The punches landed per round by Tyson in his losses to Kevin McBride, Danny Williams and Lennox Lewis were 31.8 punches thrown (37.7%).

• 20.8: Punches per round landed on Tyson by McBride, Williams and Lewis were 46.8 (44.4%).

• 48.5: Power punch percentage landed in Tyson’s losses to McBride, Williams and Lewis.

• 7: Power punches per round Paul landed 16.2, which is below the division average of 9.7 per round. His opponents landed 7.1 per round against him.

• 3: Paul’s fights against professional boxers (2:1) begin with the fight with Tyson.

• 1: Loss of Paul in his professional boxing career, a split decision to Tommy Fury in February 2023.

• 11.3: Punches landed by Paul with 35.1 punches thrown (32.2%), which is below the cruiserweight class average of 14.

• 3: Consecutive knockout victories by Paul since December 2023, the longest streak in his career.

• 70: Paul’s career knockout percentage with four first-round wins.