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.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Join our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox