Tyson vs. Paul: What the stats tell us about the game

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

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

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 prize fighter, began boxing professionally in January 2020, fighting mostly former UFC fighters and fellow YouTubers, scoring KO wins in four of his first five games.

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

To get a better sense of 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.

With that difference in experience – and age – let’s look at the match through the numbers.

• 31: Age difference this year between Tyson (58) and Paul (27).

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

• 24: Years 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). That was nearly 15% higher than the average for the heavyweight division (32.4%).

• 55.1: Percentage of power punches that Tyson landed during his first reign as heavyweight champion, 15.4% higher than the average for the heavyweight division (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 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 for Paul to win the match. Tyson is the underdog at +185 (as of November 13).

• 22: First round stoppage wins by Tyson in his career, the third most among heavyweight champions (Shannon Briggs with 30 and Jack Dempsey with 25).

• 12: Stroke per round landed by Tyson in his losses to Kevin McBride, Danny Williams and Lennox Lewis, on 31.8 throws (37.7%).

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

• 48.5: The percentage of power punches landed on Tyson in his losses to McBride, Williams and Lewis.

• 7: Power strokes per round landed by Paul out of 16.2, 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) going into the fight with Tyson.

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

• 11.3: Punches landed by Paul out of 35.1 thrown (32.2%), below the cruiserweight division average of 14.

• 3: Consecutive KO wins by Paul since December 2023, tied for longest streak of career.

• 70: Paul’s career KO percentage, with four wins in the first round.