Show boxing match: comeback without a happy ending: beating for Tyson and Netflix

A lot of bohei, a happy internet star and two defeats: It wasn’t just the former heavyweight dominator who left Mike Tyson’s boxing comeback as a loser. When the 58-year-old, breathing exhausted, congratulated his rival, the influencer and social media celebrity Jake Paul, who was not even half his age, on his clear victory, some fans had already stopped the Netflix broadcast in frustration. Because the streaming giant had technical problems at the event with which it wanted to explore involvement in live sports, the frustration of many users was immense.

Later, both Tyson and Netflix tried to sell the event as a success. The athlete reported dramatic moments in preparation for the unequal duel. “I almost died in June. I had eight blood transfusions. I lost half of my blood and 25 pounds in the hospital,” he wrote on the Internet platform X and therefore drew a positive conclusion from the sporting defeat: “I had to fight, to get healthy for the fight, so I won.”

He expressed his gratitude that his children – almost all of whom were not yet born in his heyday – were able to see him on an equal footing with a talented boxer in his mid-twenties. “This is one of those moments where you lose but you still win,” Tyson wrote. Opponent Paul commented on the entry: “I love you, Mike. It was an honor. You are an inspiration to us all.”

Some observers, fans and boxing nostalgics were harsher on Tyson – and the entire event. The former world champion lost unanimously on points. In the first officially rated boxing match since 2005, Tyson started well and aggressively – but then quickly lost control to his opponent, who was 31 years his junior.

From the third of eight shortened rounds onwards, he hardly had any reserves left for his own attacks. He, in particular, whose attacks were once feared in the boxing world, seemed more harmless than ever. In the final seconds, both opponents stopped the fight prematurely. Paul bowed out of respect for Tyson.

Netflix also on the ropes

“More than 120 million people on Netflix, we shut down the site,” the YouTuber claimed afterwards, drunk with happiness. The next day, the streaming service itself spoke of 60 million households worldwide watching the fight, while also admitting the technical problems: “The mega boxing event dominated social media, broke all records and even had our buffer systems on the ropes.”

Netflix is ​​not the first platform to experience a bumpy start to a major sports broadcast: In Germany, for example, there have been problems in recent years when Eurosport showed Bundesliga games. DAZN and Amazon also had problems with unexpectedly large numbers of customers in previous years.

Tyson as a crowd favorite, Paul as a “loudmouth” and “villain”

Paul had taken on the role of outsider in the run-up to the fight. When the two appeared together at events in the past few weeks, the influencer was often booed. “These are fans of Mike Tyson who love him. And I’m the new one, the troublemaker, the loudmouth, the one who polarizes,” said Paul. “I’ve built my career by being the villain. Of course people are against me – that’s great for boxing.”

The sympathies were also clearly divided at AT&T Stadium: When Paul was slowly driven to the ring in an open car, there were mostly boos. When Tyson went to the ring, however, there was a lot of cheering in the stands.

Paul has only been in the ring since 2020, the duel with Tyson was his eleventh win in his twelfth fight. The 27-year-old made a name for himself as an influencer, with 27 million fans following him on Instagram and 20.8 million on YouTube.