The US streaming provider Netflix has been promoting an unusual boxing match for weeks that is supposed to bring new users to the provider: The 58-year-old boxing legend Mike Tyson is competing against the much younger internet star Jake Paul. “There has never been such a great night,” was the announcement in the trailer.
But the big campaign turned into a huge failure: Netflix was unavailable for many users or crashed. Even during the preliminary fights, the stream stopped again and again for many users. Accordingly, Netflix on X becomes a laughing stock.
Both boxers are expected to receive $25 million each for the fight – perhaps a little less or a lot more, depending on the source of the speculation. Combined with the production costs and PR expenses, this makes for a huge budget.
Netflix, like Amazon Prime Video, is positioning itself as a live provider beyond series and films – with a rather deterrent effect. Apparently the rush of viewers after the big advertising and preliminary reporting is too great. Netflix has not yet commented.
In the end – visible at least to the 72,300 spectators on site in Dallas – ex-world champion Mike Tyson suffered a defeat against Jake Paul, who was 31 years his junior. It was the first official fight for the former heavyweight champion since 2005. The event was recognized as an official fight. The judges’ decision for Paul was unanimous.
Paul became famous as an influencer and has only been pursuing a career as a boxer since 2020. He recorded his eleventh win in the twelfth fight.Tyson started the fight aggressively and landed more hits than his opponent in the first two rounds. In round three, however, Paul scored several times and briefly caused Tyson to stumble. Afterwards, the younger of the two fighters was also the much more agile and had the action largely under control. Tyson’s defensive work was good, but he no longer attempted his own attacks. In the final seconds both stopped the fight and Paul bowed to Tyson.
