Jake Paul’s victory by unanimous decision over former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson may have been disappointing from a competitive standpoint, but it attracted record-breaking bets.
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BetMGM reported that the fight between the YouTube star and Tyson, who is 58 years old and showed his age by being an easy target, was their most bet-on boxing or mixed martial arts fight. It received three times the number of bets and four times more money than any combat sport in BetMGM's history.
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Craig Mucklow, vice president of trading at Caesars Sportsbook, said that the fight was on par with a Monday Night NFL game.
"We knew there would be tremendous interest in the fight, as suggested by the betting odds, as it was a generational showdown in terms of the clientele demographics," said Mucklow. "Those old enough to remember Mike Tyson in his prime could relive the nostalgia one last time, while those who were not old enough to know Iron Mike were firmly on Jake Paul's side in the betting house."
The amount of bets may not necessarily be used to compare past fights, as many important matches, including Tyson's most important fights, occurred before sports betting was legalized beyond Nevada in 2018. Betting is still not legal in 38 states. However, the fight at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas attracted a huge amount of bets.
Most of the bets at BetMGM Sportsbook were proposition bets, with the most popular one being Tyson to win either by knockout, decision, or a knockout in the first round.
Although Paul was the favorite at -175, 67% of the tickets and 53% of the money at BetMGM were in favor of Tyson.
"Paul winning was a good result for the betting house," said Alex Rella, senior trader at BetMGM.