Originally, I was going to talk about the fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul; however, after watching it, I was so disappointed with those two that I just want to talk about the three other fights that happened before “The Big One.”
On the night of Nov. 15, Netflix showed the live headline fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, along with three other undercard fights on the main card. Those fights included a super middleweight fight between Neeraj Goyat and Whindersson Nunes, a welterweight fight between Mario Barrios and Abel Ramos, and a lightweight fight between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano. All four fights would be held at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
This was due in part to Texas being one of the only states that allows a boxing fight between a 58-year-old and a 27-year-old man. The Austin American Statesman said, “Texas has a more lenient athletic commission than other states and is willing to grant an older fighter the opportunity to compete.” But who cares about a YouTuber beating up an old man when the first fight was between legends Whindersson Nunes and Neeraj Goyat.
The main super middleweight fight between Indian professional boxer Neeraj Goyat and Brazilian influencer Whindersson Nunes was the night’s card opener. Before fighting Nunes, the former World Boxing Council (WBC) Asia Champion, Neeraj Goyat actually flew all the way out to Puerto Rico to challenge Jake Paul to box. Goyat ended up joining the MVP team to fight Whindersson Nunes instead.
Nunes is a multi-talented YouTuber, comedian, actor, and musician, while Goyat is one of, if not the most famous Indian boxers and mixed martial artists. The fight lasted six rounds, with each round lasting three minutes. The fight ended in Neeraj Goyat’s favor with a score of 60 to 54.
This was an entertaining fight with both boxers being exceptional. I wasn’t personally as invested in this fight as much as other people were. As Americans, it seems easy to overlook how difficult it is for athletes from other countries to stand out against their western counterparts, so it’s pretty cool to see these two boxers represent their respective nations and get themselves the respect they deserve.
The second featured fight of the night was the WBC welterweight championship between 8th-ranked WBC Mexican-American boxing-veteran Abel Ramos and the San Antonio native, nicknamed “El Azteca,” Mario Barrios. This fight was for the title of World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight champion, with Mario Barrios defending the title. The fight went on for twelve rounds, each being three minutes in length.
In the end, all three judges had a different decision, with one deciding 114-112 in Ramos’ favor, another with 116-110 in Barrios’ favor, and for the final verdict, the last judge came back with 113-113. Ruled as a split draw or a tie, meaning that Mario Barrios successfully defended his title.
I really enjoyed seeing these two get in the ring together and in my opinion, the best fight of the night. I connected to Abel Ramos and his story of being from Casa Grande, Arizona and a veteran in the ring. Watching them fight I was definitely rooting for Ramos, and seeing how it ended had me sitting on the edge of my seat.
Talks of a rematch between the two have been circling around and I am all for it. How this fight ended in a bloody tie, we need to see Barrios vs. Ramos II.
For the final fight of the undercard and the double main event before Jake Paul and Mike Tyson was the rematch of the undisputed super lightweight championship, Katie Taylor and the Guinness World Record holder for the “most boxing world championships won in different weight classes by a female,” Amanda Serrano. This was a fight to determine the new super lightweight champion with Katie Taylor defending and a rematch between the two in Madison Square Garden.
The rematch was originally scheduled for July 20 as a co-main event along with Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, but due to Mike suffering an ulcer-flare up, it was rescheduled for November 15. Ultimately, after ten two-minute rounds, the judges came to the controversial decision of 95 to 94, with Taylor successfully defending her title.
With this fight coming down to a single point to decide the victor, no wonder why people were upset that the referee deducted a point from Serrano for head-butting Taylor. This literal bloody tie had fans booing as Taylor talked with interviewers about her win. In my opinion, I think both boxers were fighting pretty dirty, and that Serrano didn’t deserve to have a game changing point taken away for something that Taylor did to.
With everyone so obsessed with Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, it’s only fair to give some love to these awesome fighters. Every single one of these boxers are extremely inspiring in their own right, but having all six of them together in one night was incredible. The only thing that brought it down was Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, but only a little.
