“It looked like two guys who really didn’t want to get hit because they already had their paychecks.” One boxing fan captured possibly the main point of the recently publicized fight. And NASCAR veteran racer Dale Earnhardt Jr. concurs with this view. Mike Tyson, 58, left professional boxing nearly two decades ago. Even in his last fight in 2005, the legend quit on his stool before the 7th round against Kevin McBride.

This is not to belittle the champion boxer holding a record of 50 wins but to highlight the main reason for the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight. Older fans yearning to see “Iron Mike” tuned in to live out their nostalgia, while younger fans not aware of Tyson’s greatness rooted for Jake Paul. The point is, the entire fight was a grand ‘set-up’ to attract the bucks, according to Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Mike Tyson was not looking to fight

Well, come on, the legendary boxer recently had a serious health issue. Just 6 months ago, a sudden ulcer flare-up left him throwing up blood and eventually losing 26 pounds. Those effects were clearly visible during the fight, as Tyson could just land 18 punches across 8 sluggish rounds. Jake Paul, on the other hand, landed 78 – more than four times. The fight, streamed live on Netflix, ended 80-72, 79-73, and 79-73, overwhelmingly in Paul’s favor. However, maybe Tyson was not looking to win a fight after all these years. That is what Dale Earnhardt Jr. opined, making an allusion to his father, The Intimidator.

In a Dale Jr Download episode, Dale Jr. weeded out the caveat in the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight. “A lot of times, when you’re watching some of these matches, you feel like the endings are already pre-determined.” Then the 15-time NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver alluded to an imaginary exhibition race between Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Kenny Schrader. The 7-time champion and the 4-time Cup Series winner would have struck an accord on how to structure the race. “It feels a lot like a match race that my dad might have run with Kenny Schrader at some track where they’re like, let’s just make it look good…Let’s run side-by-side, we’re going to be a second off of what locals run here, nobody’s going to know…It’s going to look great. And I’ll cross the finish line first. “

If this was two or three decades ago, we would have seen the “Baddest Man on the Planet,” fight like the heavyweight champion that he was. However, now his age has caught up to him – and the need for showbiz compelled him to put on a show for fans. Dale Earnhardt Jr. continued, “I just remember being younger, maybe I was naive, and I just felt like two guys – both of them wanted to win badly. They would do whatever it took to accomplish that and the lead-up to the fight would showcase that. But now it seems more of a set-up. Do we all not walk away from a lot of these pay-per-views feeling duped? Time and time again, right?” Even Xfinity Series veteran Kenny Wallace agreed with Dale Jr. regarding this.

Dale Jr. surmised correctly. The fight itself may not have ended favorably for Mike Tyson – but the payouts did.

Viewership shot through the roof

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Kid Dynamite may not have restored his former glory against Jake Paul. But his takeaway was huge – Mike Tyson made a reported $20 Million, while his opponent cashed in $40 Million. The boxing match also set betting records at sportsbooks, becoming the most heavily wagered upon fight in years. The Arlington, Texas face-off cracked records in BetMGM’s nearly seven-year history, attracting four times as much money as any combat event. The majority of the bets were on Tyson, a 2-1 underdog, but the largest ones were on Paul, including a $1 million wager placed with Caesars Sportsbook in Michigan. “[It] was unbelievable for business,” John Murray, executive director of the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas, told ESPN.

Craig Mucklow, vice president of trading for Caesars Sportsbook, compared the amount wagered to an NFL Monday night game. “We knew there would be tremendous interest in the fight, as the betting suggested it was a generational matchup in customer demographics,” Mucklow said. “Those old enough to remember a prime Mike Tyson got to live the nostalgia one last time, while those young enough not to know who Iron Mike was were firmly on the Jake Paul side of the counter.” Westgate Superbook executive director Murray continued his flabbergasted reaction. “Casino was packed. Bets flying in all day. I was stunned.”

Evidently, Dale Jr.’s assumptions were correct – it didn’t look like Mike Tyson was actually looking to win the fight. The publicized match broke records in terms of publicity, and that’s all that mattered.