On November 15, 2024, millions of people around the world sat down in front of their televisions, tablets and screens and opened Netflix. For the first time ever, instead of watching movies or documentaries, they sat back to watch a live event. Netflix was streaming the fight between YouTuber and boxer, Jake Paul, and former boxer, Mike Tyson.
Anticipation for the fight had been building for quite some time. Previously, this showdown between the two boxers was supposed to take place on July 20, 2024, but was postponed after Mike Tyson had an ulcer flare-up on a plane.
Finally, at AT&T Stadium, the home of National League Football (NFL) Dallas Cowboys, 72,300 people filled the stands and a whopping 60 million people watched the Netflix livestream.
Celebrities such as Shaquille O’neal, Rob Gronkowski, Josh Duhamel and Jerry Jones added star appeal to the crowd.
There was a full card of live fights leading up to the dual man event. Firstly, there was a fight between Whindersson Nunes and Neeraj Goyat. Next up, there was a fight between Mario Barrios and Abel Ramos.
The dual main event consisted of Irish champ, Katie Taylor, fighting against Puerto Rican challenger, Amanda Serrano. Many people have argued that this event was better than the main event itself, as these two women fought more aggressively than Paul and Tyson did.
Interest among Community School of Davidson (CSD) students and teachers was high, and many tuned in to watch what they hoped would be an incredible night of fights.
In the early bouts, after six hard fought rounds, Goyat was determined the winner. This fight was 12 rounds of 3 minutes each round. After this fight, the winner was determined to be Mario Barrios in the next battle. The winner of the third and final fight before the main event was then announced to be Katie Taylor, barely beating Serrano after a brutal fight.
Then, it was time for the main event.
At midnight, on what was now November 16, 2024, Jake Paul and Mike Tyson stepped in the ring for what would be known as a fight that would go down in history.
But this fight was not what everyone expected it to be. When you think of these two fighters, you would imagine that they would be throwing hard punches and trying to knock each other out. But it wasn’t. Jake Paul was surprisingly going right for Tyson while the former champ retreated. This was not the Mike Tyson that everybody knew.
After a long eight rounds, Jake Paul raised his arms as the unanimous winner. A tired and worn out Tyson stood alongside dejectedly.
Most people would say that this outcome was not expected and others say it was. After all, Mike Tyson is 58 years old and has a history of medical problems and Jake Paul is 27 years old and in his prime.
Liam Harrington (‘28) said, “The fight was a lot more boring than I expected it to be. I expected more aggressiveness and thought there would be a lot more punches thrown.”
Many claim that the fight was staged, and that the script was to have Jake Paul win.
The uneven pay out also made people suspicious. Jake Paul received $40 million and Tyson received $20 million. This led to the theory that Mike Tyson didn’t try too hard because he just wanted the money.
The fight did not go smoothly even for the Netflix fans. Because of the millions of people streaming all at once, the live feed often froze, buffered and glitched.
Reflecting on his Netflix connection, Cooper Smith (‘28) said, “My Netflix was not working, so I ended up falling asleep. I guess I didn’t miss too much.”
Questions still loom regarding Tyson’s performance. In hindsight, people are now asking if Mike Tyson was holding back for the whole fight. As one of the greatest heavyweight champions of all time, people remember him for his record of 50-6 (with 44 knockouts). There was none of the ferocity from when he was younger either. In a fight on June 28, 1997, Tyson bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear. Against Jake Paul, Tyson rarely got close enough to even butt heads.
The scorecard was surprisingly lopsided, too. The stats show that Jake Paul landed 78 of his 278 total punches while Tyson only landed 18 of his 97 punches. Tyson was clearly holding back on Paul and whether it was his old age or his resistance to punch, nobody can quite piece it together.
This fight will go down in history not as an epic battle but more of a sideshow. Eager fans turned silent and most were disappointed in the outcome no matter who won.
In the future, maybe Netflix should stick to shows and movies,Tyson should stick to being retired, and Jake Paul, well, who knows what is in store for him.
