Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson
That’s history made – Jake Paul won Netflix’s first-ever live boxing event against Mike Tyson, which streamed worldwide last night. While Netflix has certainly stepped up its game regarding live streaming, buffering and technical issues plagued the event, and some devices, such as web browsers, weren’t able to watch at all. Here’s your debrief from the night.
Discovery doesn’t seem like it was a problem for the most part, with most Netflix users (upon fresh loading, anyway) getting instant access to the fight in the main carousel.
Downdetector recorded the problems, too, spiking at over 6,000 reports of outages. You’ll find countless complaints online of audio delays, poor quality streams (many were tapping out at 720p), and constant buffering. Buffering in one instance led to a rather choice moment where Tyson’s buttocks were frozen on the screen.
Let me unbuffer for 1 quick second…. #TysonPaul pic.twitter.com/0zKL3kEK2Y
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) November 16, 2024
Our comment section featured many disappointed Netflix users who were facing buffering issues and other technical glitches. One said, “A joke. It won’t even stream correctly all the main event does is buffer at 25% over and over and keeps giving an error code. I run the fastest 5 G network off Verizon too, and Netflix can’t even air a live performance properly.”
Another said in our comments, “Shame on you, Netflix, for not working all of the bugs out before this live event; you may lose many customers, and what about the live football games you are so proud of on Christmas Day?”
Not all the tech was bad, though. We noticed that when things were working fine, the subtitles weren’t overly delayed despite being typed up live, and the seamless transition for different audio options was a nice experience.
How to Watch Highlights of the Netflix Boxing Matches
Sadly, Netflix doesn’t currently offer highlights within the app, meaning you have to manually scrub through over four hours of content to find what you’re specifically looking for. Why isn’t there a highlights pullout where you can skip to notable sections?
Finding the replay is particularly difficult for some reason. If you type in Jake Paul or Mike Tyson into the search bar, the live event replay doesn’t even appear. Instead, you need the direct link.
Click Here To Watch The Fight LiveFor timestamps:
- Goyat v Whindersson – 20 mins
- Barrios v Ramos – 1 hour 5 mins
- Serrano v Taylor – 2 hours 40 minutes
- Paul v Tyson – 4 hours
Who Won The Fights?
The first live event was Neeraj Goyat (19-4-2, 8 KOs) facing off against Whindersson Nunes (2-3-1) with Goyat ultimately winning by unanimous decision.
Mario “El Azteca” Barrios ultimately drew against Abel Ramos in their WBC welterweight title match-up after two knockouts over the 12 rounds, leading to Barrios retaining his title. The judge’s decisions were as follows: 114-112, 116-110, 113-113.
Perhaps the best match-up of the night was the highly anticipated rematch between MVP’s Amanda “Real Deal” Serrano (47-3-1, 31 KOs) and Katie Taylor (24-1, 6 KOs), with Taylor edging out a close unanimous decision victory (95-94 x 3), securing her second win over Serrano and ultimately retaining her women’s lightweight championship.
As for the main event, Jake Paul emerged as the winner by unanimous decision (80-72, 79-73 x 2) by the judges after an impressive performance and even showing respect by giving Mike a much easier time in those closing rounds.
Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson
What’s been said since the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson Matchup?
In the post-fight press conference, Jake Paul conveyed confidence in his preparation as he faced Mike Tyson, a moment he had mentally rehearsed countless times. “Yeah, I was just so prepared,” he said. “I’ve gone through the moment so many times in my head and meditation and stuff like that, so it didn’t faze me. I just felt at home, on the path of riding my destiny.” He noted that even when he appeared to ease off the intensity in the third round, it was intentional. “Definitely,” he confirmed. “I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt.” Despite going up against a legend, he remarked, “I didn’t feel Mike’s power at all.”
Addressing the polarizing reactions he often receives, he acknowledged his role in leaning into the “heel” persona. “People just love to hate me. I’m easy to hate, and I intentionally say things to make people hate me,” he admitted. “I play the heel, I feed into that, and that’s just what I like to do.” He emphasized his dedication to the sport, stating, “I’ve been in this sport for four and a half years, taking every fight possible.” On the online criticism following the fight, he was unfazed, saying, “I tried to give the best fight I possibly could, but when someone’s just surviving in the ring, it’s hard to make it exciting. But I don’t care about what people have to say. They’re always going to have something to say, and it is what it is.” Looking ahead, he added, “Give me a couple more months, and I’m going to accomplish more things. I plan on doing everything in this sport that there is to be done.”
How good was the viewership for the Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul fight?
We’ll determine how these problems have impacted the viewing figures on Tuesday evening at 8 PM GMT. Stay tuned to our Top 10 Report in the evening for that. We’ve now got a few other live events against which we can compare, but we suspect this will blow those events out of the water.
As for how many people attended in person, according to a Netflix press release, 72,300 people were present at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
What did you think of Netflix’s first real push into live sports? Let us know down in the comments.
