The fight itself may have been a damp squib, but for the two boxers and the bookies it was one hell of a night, financially speaking.
Jake Paul outlasted former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson over eight rounds to win by unanimous points decision, so while he got the bragging rights in the ring, both of the pugilists were laughing all the way to the bank.
Paul is thought to have earned $40 million (£31.5 million) from the scrap, while Iron Mike himself didn’t too badly in defeat with a £15.8 million pay-off.
Meanwhile, the bookies were also celebrating as they took more bets on Tyson vs Paul than any other boxing bout in history.
Record Breaking, History Making
It should be said that the record broken was for global betting take, rather than just UK, with the popularity and notoriety of the two pugilists in the United States – where sports betting is now legal, for the most part – doing much of the heavy lifting.
BetMGM, the American sports betting titan that has now moved into the UK market, has revealed that they accepted more wagers on Saturday’s contest than any other combat sports event since opening their doors decades ago.
And the bookies were even more happy when Paul, despite being the favourite, won, given that most of the late money into the market had come for Tyson.
A representative from the Caesars Sportsbook said that the fight produced betting numbers more akin to NFL wagering in America, while at BetMGM the bout induced around four times more wagers than the other most bet-upon combat sports event: Conor McGregor’s crossover fight with Floyd Mayweather.
Back in 2017, bookies in the UK revealed they had taken some £300 million in action on the scrap, which broke all previous records for a single betting event in the UK.
At the time, Betfair’s Barry Orr said:
“Industry wide, it’s one of the biggest sporting events that’s going to be bet on for a long, long time. I think it’s going to break all records.”
Like him or not, Jake Paul certainly attracts plenty of attention – and betting interest – when he fights. According to another US sportsbook, DraftKings, his crossover bout with Nate Diaz in August 2023 was their second most bet-upon combat sports event ever… until the ‘Problem Child’ locked horns with Tyson, that is.
And Patrick Jay, head of the sportsbook at ESPN bet, revealed:
“Jake Paul’s fights average 17x more bets and 13x higher handle per event than standard boxing events. Compared to championship boxing events, Jake Paul fights take in an average of 2.5x more bets and 2.5x higher handle.”
Ironed Out
shelbysdrummond via flickr
It would be fair to say that Paul is not universally popular, and perhaps that explains why so many punters were betting – perhaps more in hope, than expectation – on 58-year-old Tyson knocking out the much younger man.
An incident at the pre-fight press conference, in which Tyson slapped Paul across the face, suggested that Iron Mike had not lost any of his ferociousness over the years, and it was a move that saw a flurry of bets on Tyson to win by KO or TKO flood the market.
Mike Tyson SLAPPED Jake Paul at a heated weigh-in ahead of their heavyweight bout in Texas tonight 👋👀 pic.twitter.com/lLgujyXtRt
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) November 15, 2024
Normally, bookmakers are quite happy when a favourite loses. But in this case, such was the weight of money that came in for the underdog, in the end a Paul victory was a good night of business for the betting firms.
The single most popular bet worldwide was Tyson to win by knockout, and that was followed by a points decision in favour of the artist formerly known as the Baddest Man on the Planet.
In the UK, Paddy Power confirmed they would be liable for a record payout had Tyson won via first round knockout.
That had opened up as a 14/1 chance, but as more and more money came in it had been cut to 6/1 at the first bell.
A spokesperson for Paddy Power commented:
“We are giving away a free bet for the fight and our customers are all putting it on the same bet, which is always a massive worry, while they’re hammering the same selection with their own money too.
“Needless to say, I’ll be feeling like I’ve been slapped in the face myself if Jake does hit the canvas in the first round in Dallas.”
All told, 67% of all bets backed Tyson to win by any means, although that only represented 53% of the total amount wagered; suggesting that the bigger money bets were placed on Paul to prevail.