From responsible pleasure to the spectacle of a lifetime, Friday’s boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson has been referred to as a handful of various issues by completely different individuals.
None of these individuals, for what it is value, have stated they will not be watching when the 27-year-old YouTube star turned boxer touches gloves with the 58-year-old Corridor of Famer and former undisputed heavyweight champion inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, as Netflix makes a frog-splash into the fight sports activities pool with its first stay boxing telecast.
As we draw nearer to this long-awaited carnival of the unknown, which encompasses a can’t-miss ladies’s boxing rematch of Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano within the co-main occasion for the undisputed junior welterweight crown, let’s take a more in-depth have a look at the most important storylines surrounding the occasion.
1. Is not Mike Tyson approach too previous to be taking punches from an energetic fighter?
That has been the prevailing thought ever since this battle was first conceived final fall and, in some ways, stays the dominant promoting level as to why — regardless of the inherent risks that include permitting 58-year-old males to take punches — a lot of the world can be watching. Now, for the report, particularly if coaching camp footage is any indication, Tyson seems like something however the common citizen who finds themself in that no man’s land between center age and senior residing. Even with the added results of age and the slight homogenization of his former “baddest man on the planet” persona, Tyson remains to be scary and formidable trying sufficient that it’s not onerous to speak oneself into his puncher’s probability of pulling the upset. Paul is perhaps an 11-fight novice boxer with no beginner profession whose greatest boxing win got here in opposition to 49-year-old former UFC star Anderson Silva. However he has additionally been — save for a 2023 split-decision loss to Tyson Fury’s half-brother and actuality TV star Tommy Fury — the pound-for-pound greatest boxer of the crossover bubble that he, brother Logan Paul and Tyson, himself, helped construct throughout the pandemic.
Paul has gone 10-1 in opposition to a mix of getting old MMA veterans, journeymen boxers and celebrities. Tyson, in the meantime, reminded us of his irresistible pull in 2020 when his Triller-produced exhibition match in opposition to Roy Jones Jr. offered a whopping 1.6 million buys on pay-per-view. Simply shy of his 52nd birthday, Tyson additionally turned in a throwback efficiency bodily by boxing eight onerous rounds. Ought to that model of Tyson present up in opposition to Paul, there in all probability is not an excessive amount of to fret about. However inform that to anybody who watched a 58-year-old Evander Holyfield, Tyson’s longtime rival, get knocked across the ring in a 2021 first-round TKO loss to MMA legend Vitor Belfort. Sure, Tyson is at an age the place it is nearly prison to permit him to field in opposition to anybody, not to mention Paul. Additionally, Tyson would possibly win. See the difficulty right here?
2. There’s going to be an insane quantity of stay viewers for this battle
Even when this battle card had been supplied on PPV and even when stated providing value was one thing absurd like $150, there’s an argument to be made that Tyson-Paul could possibly be a PPV juggernaut throughout an period of streaming piracy the place that nearly by no means occurs anymore. Now, think about the dimensions of the viewing viewers that might doubtlessly present up when it is being supplied on Netflix beneath the common subscription value (and with no PPV upcharge). As of the third quarter of 2024, Netflix had 282.7 million paid subscribers worldwide. An ordinary Netflix month-to-month subscription plan (with advertisements) begins as little as $6.99 whereas the third and highest tier, which Netflix calls premium, is $22.99. It would not take an economics main to foretell that the ultimate variety of stay viewers can be astronomical. From the standpoint of the boxing enterprise at massive, that is an attention-grabbing gamble. The PPV undercard is crammed with quite a few completely authentic choices and comprises a handful of acknowledged champions. The elevated viewership, offered the principle occasion is not a regrettable catastrophe, may present a lift to the game’s financial future, not simply within the type of extra protection on Netflix however past. Netflix can also be reportedly within the combine to be a significant participant within the UFC’s subsequent broadcasting deal, which could possibly be a shot within the arm for fight sports activities, usually.
3. Keep in mind how good George Foreman-Michael Moorer felt? Now, think about Tyson profitable
Whereas Paul is justifiably the betting favourite given his 6-foot-1 dimension, muscular body, youthful legs and bonafide punching energy, there’s very a lot a pathway to victory for Tyson. The important thing, after all, is that the earlier sentence seemingly has an expiration level, almost definitely within the first half of the battle. Even at 58, Tyson stays impossibly explosive and, on condition that energy is the very last thing to go in an getting old fighter, it is clear that he nonetheless carries sufficient increase to maintain Paul sincere. That is the gross sales pitch for the battle in a nutshell: Tyson is harmful sufficient to win, at any level … till the nostalgia and adrenaline runs out and all of us, together with Tyson, keep in mind that he is closing in on 60. However what if Tyson proves us all flawed? Or, extra particularly, what if he catches Paul clear within the early going and knocks him out chilly? The time period “breaking the web” would not even start to cowl it. One factor a victorious Tyson would additionally do is take the feel-good second that was watching a 45-year-old Foreman develop into the oldest champion in heavyweight historical past in 1994 when he knocked out Michael Moorer and multiply it by infinity. From a storyline perspective, Tyson can be the getting old former fighter who saved his beloved sport’s popularity by getting up from the sofa to complete the loudmouth “pretender” that’s the carnival-barking Paul. Discuss a film plot come to life. However extra importantly, like Foreman, it might be a shot within the arm to the concept that age is nothing however a quantity. If you happen to add to that the redemptive feeling of Tyson, whose skilled profession resulted in surprising decline and shame in 2005, coming again to exit the game on his personal phrases and it isn’t troublesome to get caught up within the romance of such a situation.
4. Jake Paul simply would possibly get his dream of a Canelo Alvarez battle in spite of everything
Look, depend me in as considered one of an enormous variety of hard-core and conventional boxing followers who need nothing to do with the carnival thought of matching Paul in opposition to an elite celebrity like Alvarez, who nonetheless resides among the many P4P greatest within the sport and stays the game’s largest star. Paul’s ambition and work ethic relating to how shortly he has transitioned from leisure to boxing stays one thing that must be applauded — if not admired. However he is additionally not anyplace near the elite ranges of the game, which is why boxing followers and media alike have audibly groaned every time Paul tried to hype up the potential in recent times. The battle in opposition to Tyson, nevertheless, has the potential to take Paul’s already big model and ship it into the stratosphere contemplating what number of informal and mainstream eyeballs can be on the battle. Now, think about the plausible situation of Paul beating up and ending Tyson and you’ve got all of the makings for what professional wrestling calls an enormous heel flip. Paul has strategically performed the PPV boxing heel prior to now, significantly as he marched by one getting old MMA legend after one other whereas declaring his boxing greatness. A knockout of Tyson may take heel Paul to such an excessive degree that followers would possibly love nothing greater than to pay to see a authentic boxing champion acquire revenge for the game at massive. Alvarez is 34 and nonetheless very near the height of his powers. He additionally has appeared extra prepared of late to hunt much less dangerous PPV fights with massive field workplace potential whereas conveniently sidestepping the tougher fights (David Benavidez, Terence Crawford) that followers would favor. Sadly, a future Alvarez-Paul catchweight conflict is not fully out of the query.
5. Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano II is getting the viewers it actually deserves
Girls’s boxing has undergone a renaissance in recent times due to two-time Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields and the equally spectacular accomplishments of each Taylor, the 38-year-old Irish legend who has gained undisputed titles in two divisions, and Serrano, a 36-year-old Puerto Rican star who has gained world titles in an astonishing seven completely different weight courses. Serrano, who’s represented by Paul’s Most Helpful Promotions, joined Taylor in a 2022 showdown at New York’s Madison Sq. Backyard, which was billed as the most important and most essential battle in ladies’s boxing historical past. In entrance of an intoxicating sold-out crowd, the battle additionally someway exceeded expectations as Taylor gained a cut up choice to defend all 4 light-weight titles. Friday’s rematch, which has been rescheduled or canceled a number of occasions within the ensuing years, will happen for Taylor’s undisputed 140-pound title and represents, in some ways, the cherry on high of their respective, future Corridor-of-Fame careers. A battle this essential deserves an viewers as massive because the one Taylor-Serrano acquired inside MSG in 2022. So, how about AT&T Stadium in entrance of lots of of hundreds of thousands on Netflix? Discuss the fitting battle, on the proper venue, on the proper time.
Who wins Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul on November 15, and which Paul vs. Tyson props do you have to be throughout? Go to SportsLine now to see Brandon Clever’s greatest bets for the Nov. 15 bout, all from the CBS fight sports activities specialist who simply referred to as Paul’s first-round win in March, and discover out.
