On November 15th, the long-awaited Paul-Tyson event took place at AT&T Stadium in Texas. Seven matches took place, with three on the preliminary card broadcast on YouTube, and four on the main card broadcast on Netflix.
There was much discourse and discussion before the event, such as Tyson slapping Paul in the weigh-in after Jake stepped on his foot, and a tweet showing a “script” for the match showing Paul winning by knockout in round five. Unfortunately, the headliner didn’t come close to living up to that excitement, but one match did – the semi-main event.
Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano II
Lineal lightweight champion Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano had their first match in Madison Square Garden on April 30th 2022, headlining in a bout described as “an instant classic” and winning Sports Illustrated’s Fight of the Year. It was groundbreaking not just in terms of quality, but also being the first women’s match to headline MSG. Both women had a lot to live up to in this rematch, and thankfully they absolutely delivered.
The match was an absolute war, with Serrano developing a nasty cut over her right eye following a headbutt from Taylor, who was warned and eventually penalised for repeated offensive use of her head in what looked at times like a desperation move. The referee paused the fight so Serrano could be checked on, and she was eventually allowed to return to the fight. The crowd rallied behind the challenger, fighting through what must have been immense pain, and showered the champion Taylor with boos. The atmosphere was electrifying.
Both women left it all in the ring, but the final round especially was an all-out assault with punches flying left and right, leaving both women battered and covered in Serrano’s blood. Neither woman had an edge so it all came down to the judges. 95-94… in Taylor’s favour. The crowd were unhappy, to say the least, but honestly either woman could’ve won and it would’ve been a valid result. We can only hope that their inevitable third match, which will presumably take place next year, caps off the trilogy in a befitting way. What a match, and what a pair of truly brilliant fighters. In a just world, this would’ve main event-ed, but alas…
Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson, a.k.a. Elder Abuse
The entrances started with both Pauls coming down to the ring in a low rider, reminiscent of WWE’s “Latino Heat” Eddie Guerrero, except without the charm, likability or crowd support. They were soundtracked by Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight”, a subtle jab at Tyson who sang the track in a scene from The Hangover. The pigeon that Paul had attempted to gift to Tyson sat caged in the back, clearly in a lot of distress surrounded by the bright lights and crowd uproar – I suppose Jake can add cruelty to animals to his list of transgressions.
The geriatric Tyson then made his entrance to the hilariously unfitting “We Don’t Give a F***” by DMX. In a sign of things to come, he stumbled on his way out, resembling a pensioner making their daily walk to the shops. Since Jake came to the ring in a car, surely Netflix could have splashed out for a mobility scooter to get Tyson to the ring. To his credit, he received a strong positive reaction from the crowd, who clearly were still in delusion about the quality of what they were about to witness.
The fight could generously be described as a travesty. Tyson appeared to have some semblance of vigour in him during the first round, landing a couple decent shots, but was then rocked by a right to his head. Paul then enhanced his lead in the second with some rapid blows which, thirty years ago, Tyson would’ve easily been able to dodge. But not tonight. As the rounds drew on, Tyson looked worse and worse, becoming slower and more discombobulated.
The fight was set to go only eight rounds instead of the usual ten, in a futile attempt to not tire Tyson out as much. By the final round, Mike was literally biting his gloves to keep his arms up and didn’t throw a single punch. The crowd had completely turned, drowning both men in boos. Paul showed how seriously he was taking the match by spending the last 10 seconds bowing and deferring to Tyson, who seemingly had forgotten that he was even in a fight with stakes on the line. Jake was declared the winner by unanimous decision, spending his moment of victory picking up his cap that Logan had accidentally knocked off his head.
One of the most embarrassing main events I have ever witnessed. Mike Tyson’s ass looked better than his boxing did that night. Both the Pauls looked like bigger fools than they already do, made worse by them seemingly teasing ANOTHER fight between Mike and Logan afterwards! It certainly put to bed any rumours that the fight was rigged, however – surely nobody could’ve written a script as boring as what actually happened. The buffering was a more dynamic viewing experience.
Aftermath
Numbers-wise, the event was an undeniable success. 108 million viewers in total, with a peak of 65 million concurrent viewers. This is great in some aspects, such as Taylor-Serrano becoming the most viewed women’s boxing match in history, which it richly deserves. But it was truly horrible in other aspects, such as the fact that there is a non-zero chance that there might be a sequel, which will hopefully flop if it comes to fruition.
Netflix received a lot of flak for how poorly their servers performed during the event, with many users reporting buffering and freezing throughout. For WWE fans, who are used to seamless broadcasts on Peacock, Netflix’s performance is a cause for concern as January approaches, although they’re obviously very rarely going to reach these concurrent viewing figures. Netflix must improve its servers, or it risks losing trust as a host for large-scale live events.
What’s in store for the fighters? Paul will likely keep on fighting past-their-prime boxers looking for a quick payday, although the optics of this situation have likely dissuaded any boxing fan from ever taking him seriously. Tyson needs to stay far away from the ring for his own safety, but unfortunately, money talks, and Netflix has lots of it. On a more positive note, the success and acclaim of the women’s match may be a strong step forward in the acceptance of mainstream women’s boxing. With any luck Taylor, Serrano and the rest of the new generation of female boxers will have many more opportunities to main-event big money shows in future.
This event is a textbook example of how prioritizing hype over substance is a short-sighted strategy. Netflix may have alienated a significant portion of its audience with poor presentation and a lackluster main event. Whether the platform learns from these mistakes or continues to chase controversy will determine its future in boxing—and potentially in live sports broadcasting.
