The final stats showed that Tyson connected with only 18 of 97 punches thrown, while Paul threw approximately 278 punches and landed 78 of them.

As the final seconds of the eighth round counted down, Paul could even afford to bow to Tyson before the bell rang.

“First of all, Mike Tyson, it’s such an honor. Let’s give it up for Mike,” Paul said after hugging Tyson after the win.

“He’s the biggest one ever to do it. He is the Goat, he is a legend. I am inspired by him and we wouldn’t be here today without him.

“This man is an icon and it’s just an honor to be able to fight him. He is obviously the toughest, meanest man on the planet; it was very hard as I expected it to be.”

Tyson, meanwhile, said he was pleased with his performance despite the one-sided nature of the loss.

“I came to fight,” he said. “I didn’t prove anything to anyone but myself… I’m just happy with what I can do.”

Tyson had struggled with braces on his right knee, but said it didn’t affect his performance.

“I can’t use that as an excuse. If I did, I wouldn’t be here,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tyson praised the quality of his opponent Paul, who has successfully parlayed a career as a YouTuber and popular content creator into a string of lucrative boxing contests, such as this event, funded and broadcast by the streaming giant Netflix.

“He’s a very good fighter,” said Tyson, who refused to rule out the possibility that he might even fight again.

“I don’t know. It depends on the situation,” Tyson said. Pressed on whether Friday was his last fight, he added, “I don’t think so.”

Tyson was reportedly paid $20 million to enter the contest, which came 19 years after his last officially sanctioned professional bout – a loss to Irish journeyman Kevin McBride in 2005.

The former heavyweight champion’s return to the ring was met with consternation throughout the boxing world, which dismissed the contest as a macabre circus that risked injuring the boxing icon.

Those concerns deepened in May, when the fight — originally set for July — was postponed after Tyson suffered a medical scare on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles. Tyson later revealed that he had bled from an “ulcer explosion”.

Tyson, however, brushed aside concerns about his health, insisting his critics were mostly jealous that he remains a box-office draw decades after his 1980s heyday when he terrorized the heavyweight division.

Tyson tried to recall that era of dominance in his ring walk, marching into the arena in his black trunks with a black poncho draped over his body.

However, that was as close as Tyson came to reflecting the fighter he once was, with Paul comfortably keeping him at bay throughout the contest.