After months of media hype, and a pre-fight slap born from Jake Paul stepping on Mike Tyson’s toe, Netflix was hoping the buildup would gather media attention for a stellar event. Instead, Netflix’s servers weren’t as strong as they thought when audiences made the attempt to watch the fight
Undoubtedly the biggest story coming out of Friday’s fight was the persistent buffering issues that kept many viewers from watching the event. Many took to “X” to voice their frustrations, flooding the platform with a myriad of memes that succeeded in giving fans a giggle before they looked back up to their TV.
“If Jake Paul somehow loses, I want it on the record that I’m taking no accountability for my pick because Netflix isn’t working and if I can’t watch it then it doesn’t count,” Dave Portnoy, creator of Barstool sports, said on X.
Luckily for me, my dad’s iPad came in handy, so I was able to watch the main event without any interruptions.
The majority of the 120 million global viewers wanted to see Mike Tyson reawaken the “natural born killer” living within him, largely because they’re tired of Jake Paul’s blabbermouth. When finally reaching fight week it seemed that the possibility of Tyson releasing his inner beast was becoming more of a reality.
However, one of the largest asterisks places on the bout were Tyson’s lingering health issues. Originally, the match was scheduled for July of this year but had to be postponed as Tyson experienced an ulcer flare up. The boxer revealed in a Netflix documentary surrounding the fight that he received eight blood transfusions and lost 25 pounds in the hospital.
“I asked the doctor, am I going to die? she didn’t say no, that’s when I got nervous,” said Tyson.
It was evident after Tyson’s open workout that the former heavyweight champion didn’t have the cardio ability he used to, but what fans clung to was the possibility of Tyson trapping Paul with just one powerful punch.
In Wednesday’s press conference Tyson remained quiet, providing reporters with short answers, but it was the legend’s response to one media member pressing Tyson on what’d he’d do if a loss were to occur that caught the attention of the fight’s spectators. Tyson had a vigorous response to the question, “I’m not going to lose. Did you hear what I just said?” Tyson’s response sparked a media frenzy, many claimed that he was “locked in” and that Jake Paul had reawakened the “beast” within him.
Paul on the other hand was his usual self, bombarding Tyson with verbal disses, providing media members with audacious answers and picking million dollar fits that only an influencer would wear to attend the press conferences and ring. The wardrobe choice that caught the most attention was a shirt Paul wore to the event’s last press conference, it read “FREE AT LAST,” with a black and white drawing of Tyson in a striped prison shirt behind bars.
Finally, the time rolled around for the two to step toe-to-toe in the ring. As the fight unfolded it gave viewers a disappointing dose of reality. Tyson looked strong in the first round, and seemed to rock Paul with a quick jab, but as the fight continued, “Iron” Mike Tyson looked like a shell of himself.
Tyson’s biggest obstacle came in the second round. His stance was noticeably shorter and weaker. Multi time world champion, and Tyson’s last opponent was on the call, stating “I don’t like his legs” when noticing Tyson’s form.
Unlike professional boxing bouts, who fight with 10 oz gloves, Tyson and Paul used 14 oz gloves. The rounds were also different. Instead of fighting in regular three-minute rounds, they fought in two-minute rounds. As the rounds went on, Tyson was noticeably gassed. Paul ended up landing 78 of 278 thrown punches. Tyson only landed 18 and threw only 97 punches. Later Paul revealed that he purposely didn’t knock Tyson out saying, “I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt,” he said.
Jake Paul was declared winner via unanimous decision. After the fight Paul said to a packed AT&T stadium “Love you Mike, it was an honor. You’re an inspiration to us all.” It was disheartening to see a weaker version of Tyson, but when considering the obstacles he overcame to participate, the former champion deserves to hold a semblance of pride for his efforts.
“I’m absolutely happy. I didn’t prove nothing to anybody, only to myself,” Tyson said.
Sebastian Perez-Navarro is a staff reporter for The Prospector and can be reached at [email protected]
