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Is it just me, or was all the hype leading up to the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match this past Friday night just that….a glitzy, hi-tech cash cow that made someone – or more than just one – rich?

I mean think about it, it took longer for Paul – sitting in a “tricked-out” convertible – to be chauffeured towards the ring than it did for eight, two-minute rounds to occur.

If I wasn’t already a subscriber to Netflix, I wouldn’t have watch this show that was billed as a boxing match. I am happy that my now late father, who loved professional boxing, wasn’t around to witness this debacle.

Neither fighter was impressive, and the stats back that up. According to CompuBox stats, Paul threw a total of 278 punches over the course of eight rounds. He landed 78 (a paltry 28 percent). Tyson was even worse….landing a mere 19 percent of his punches (18-of-97).

The fight was held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the home of the Dallas Cowboys.

According to StubHub, the fight outsold the recent Cowboys-Eagles game by 24 percent. Tickets – which ranged from $58 to $1,500 – were purchased from all 50 states and 38 different countries and territories.

Media outlets reported that gate receipts for the fight produced in excess of $18 million in revenue. Netflix says 60 million households watched it on their streaming service.

The hype surrounding the fight centered on Paul, a 27-year-old YouTube influencer who transformed himself into a boxer, taking on Tyson, a 58-year-old boxing legend who in his heyday was billed as the “baddest man on the planet. Tyson, a former world heavyweight champion, won 44 of his 50 fights by knockout.

Tyson made his pro boxing debut in 1985, 12 years before Paul was born.

Despite the age difference, I was hoping Tyson could pull off a win. I figured if he could get to Paul within the first two rounds, Tyson maybe could either knock Paul out or impress the judges enough to earn a decision on the scorecard.

That didn’t happen and by round number four, Tyson’s legs were gone and so was his side-to-side movement. He basically became a punching bag for Paul, but even a few big blows landed from the younger man, Tyson is still a tough cookie as he made it upright through all eight rounds.

Meanwhile, Paul got more than just another “w” added to his boxing record. He was also able to add more eyes to his social media empire, which should mean more to him than landing punches on Tyson’s old noggin.

Thank goodness there were other fights (six) on the undercard that perhaps made ticket-holders feel they had some bang for their buck.

In my humble opinion, the Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano fight was the best of the night. These two women went toe-to-toe and blow-for-blow in a 10-round match for Taylor’s undisputed light welterweight world titles. I really thought Serrano won that battle, but the three judges all saw it in Taylor’s favor as she walked out of the stadium still holding the titles.

Switching sports, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association had its first look last week at the Average Daily Membership numbers for the 2024-2025 school year. Those enrollment numbers are important as they will be used to determine sports classification realignment that will take effect at the start of the 2025-26 school year.

As previously announced, the NCHSAA is expanding from four to eight classifications. So, where do the four local public high schools (that participate in athletics) fall within realignment?

Herford County, currently a Class 2A school, would rise to the 3A level (schools with ADMs between 587 and 795). HCHS – with its projected enrollment of 732 students – would be the 18^th largest Class 3A school in the state. There are 59 schools with enrollments that fall in Class 3A.

Bertie, Gates, and Northampton high schools are currently Class 1A schools. Each would be realigned next year as one of 59 Class 2A schools (ADMs from 389 to 585). Bertie, with a projected ADM of 550, would rank as the 13^th largest Class 2A school statewide. Gates County (436 ADM) and Northampton County (400) would each rank in the bottom one-third of Class 2A size schools.

If the ADM projections hold, it will be interesting to see where our local schools would be placed when it comes to conference affiliation.

Elizabeth City Northeastern and Hertford County are the only two members of the current Northeastern Coastal Conference (a spilt 2A/3A league) that are projected as Class 3A size next year.

With its growing population, Currituck County High School (a projected ADM of 1,054 students) would be realigned as a Class 5A school while fellow league member First Flight High School (ADM of 902 students) is projected as a Class 4A school. Both are current members of the Northeastern Coastal Conference, as is Pasquotank County ((projected at 646 students) and Elizabeth City Northeastern (an ADM of 652), placing both in Class 3A.

With no other Class 5A or 4A sized schools in the northeastern corner of the state, I’m curious to see how the NCHSAA will handle placing Currituck and First Flight in a conference.

Bertie, Gates and Northampton have conference options within the Class 2A ranks. There are plenty of similar size schools in the northeast….Camden County (projected ADM of 582 students), Perquimans County (558), Manteo (552),.Edenton Holmes (551), and Southside (422).

If you are curious about the largest schools in the state (the top 32 in Class 8A), they range from 2,167 students at Reagan High School in Pfafftown (located near Winston-Salem) to Myers Park High School in Charlotte (3,273 students).

The NCHSAA has yet to finalize all these numbers, which are based on the ADM numbers from the first 20 days of the current school year. The N.C. Department of Public Instruction provides the ADM numbers to the NCHSAA, then the NCHSAA adjusts the numbers to account for special circumstances at individual schools, such as early colleges.

Cal Bryant is the Editor of Roanoke-Chowan Publications. Contact him at cal.bryant@r-cnews.com or 252-332-7207.