Jake Paul-Mike Tyson was highest-grossing combat event in Texas at $18.1M, organizers say

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jake Paul's unanimous decision over Mike Tyson was the highest-grossing combat sports event in Texas at $18.1 million, the promotions company co-founded by Paul said Tuesday.

The eight-round fight at the home of the Dallas Cowboys drew about 72,000 fans and was part of a co-main event that featured Katie Taylor's latest disputed decision in a super lightweight championship slugfest against Amanda Serrano.

The event surpassed Texas' previous sports combat high of $9 million set by Canelo Alvarez when he faced Billy Joe Saunders at 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium in 2021, according to Most Valuable Promotions.

There were 73,000-plus fans at the Alvarez-Saunders fight, which at the time was the biggest crowd for a U.S. sporting event since the start of the pandemic a year earlier.

Paul beat Tyson, the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion, in a lopsided decision, winning all but one round on the three judges' scorecards combined. It was the 11th victory in 12 fights for the YouTuber-turned-boxer, who has seven knockouts in 4 1/2 years since turning pro.

BetMGM said the fight was its most-bet boxing or mixed-martial arts fight, taking three times the number of bets and four times the money of any combat sport in the sportsbook's history. A Caesars Sportsbook official said the fight was on par with an NFL Monday night game.

Netflix reported a peak of 65 million viewers in the streaming platform's debut for live sporting events. Netflix is carrying two NFL games on Christmas Day and WWE “Raw” on Jan. 6.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports