Jake Paul defeats Mike Tyson in much-hyped Netflix fight

Friday night's fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson on Netflix delivered more in the way of media spectacle than sports competition. In the end, though, both boxers left the ring as big winners.

RELATED: Why did Mike Tyson slap Jake Paul at their fight weigh-in?

Not surprisingly, the much-younger Paul defeated Tyson by unanimous decision, out-pointing the former world heavyweight champion on all three judges' cards by scores of 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73.

Paul, 27, was the more mobile and active fighter, choosing his spots to safely display his boxing skills, while the 58-year-old Tyson showed every bit of his age, mostly lingering in the middle of ring unable to do any real damage, much less move.

Paul, the YouTube star turned boxer, vowed to go for the knockout, especially after he was slapped by Tyson at Thursday's weigh-in. However, as the fight dragged on, Paul backed off going for the finish and seemed content to let the boxing legend reach the final bell out of respect.

"This man is an icon. And it's just an honor to be able to fight him," Paul said afterward on the Netflix broadcast. "And he's obviously the toughest, baddest man on the planet, so it was really tough like I expected it to be."

Tyson said he was "happy" with his performance, his satisfaction seemingly coming from his ability to last all eight two-minute rounds.

"I knew he was a good fighter. I knew he was prepared. I came to fight," Tyson said.

The final punch stats were one-sided. Paul threw 278 punches and landed 78 for a 28% connect percentage, while Tyson mustered 97 punches, landing only 18 for an 19% hit rate.

Tyson, who infamously bit Evander Holyfield's ear, kept nibbling on his glove, and he shed light on the bizarre in-ring tic afterward.

Said Tyson: "I have a biting fixation."

Tyson (50-7, 44 knockouts) also revealed that he might not be done with boxing. When asked if Friday would be his final bout, he replied, "I don't think so."

Paul improved his record to 11-1 and backed off calling out one-time pound-for-pound king Canelo Alvarez for his next fight.

"Canelo needs me, so I'm not even gonna try to call him out," Paul said. "He knows he wants a payday, so he knows where the money man's at."

Paul scored a significant victory with his Most Valuable Promotions, which announced a record $17.8 million in gate revenue from the crowd of 70,000 that packed A&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas. Paul said a streaming audience of 120 million "crashed" Netflix's servers.

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