Social media sensation and recently turned boxer Jake Paul (27) defeated former undisputed heavyweight world champion and former “baddest man on the planet” Mike Tyson (58) by unanimous decision in the most-streamed sporting event ever on Nov. 15, 2024. 

Despite many viewers being disappointed by the fight, it drew in 108 million viewers, and 65 million households in the United States tuned into the fight, per Netflix. However, the fight was not pay-per-view, so viewers only needed a Netflix subscription rather than pay $70 to $80 to watch it.

Additionally, the rematch between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano for the women’s undisputed super lightweight world championship, the Co-Main Event, drew in 74 million global viewers, making it the “most watched professional women’s sports event in U.S. history,’’ Netflix revealed.

Taylor won a controversial unanimous decision in a thriller fight, retaining her undisputed super lightweight world title. Many boxing fans argued the women’s match was a far better fight than the men’s main event.

Saint Paul’s sophomore Connor Ayala felt the thriller between Taylor and Serrano excited viewers, pointing to the success of Tyson vs. Paul. “Both fighters were very aggressive and put up a great fight. I think the fight between Taylor and Serrano was so good that other people heard about it, and it brought more people and excited them to watch the Tyson vs. Paul fight,’’ Ayala said.

Additionally, although Tyson retired for 19 years, his star power is still here. Many viewers thought they would see a glimpse of the former “baddest man on the planet,” but instead, they saw Father Time catch up to Tyson.

Although Tyson lost the fight, he was still grateful to fight Paul. “This is one of those situations when you lost but still won. I’m grateful for last night. No regrets to get in one last time,’’ Tyson wrote to his social channels.

Tyson came out aggressive, landing a few powerful shots on Paul, attempting to mimic his old style for the first couple of rounds; however, the first two were the only competitive rounds. Paul landed a series of flush shots, rocking Tyson in the third round, and shifting the momentum of the fight.

Tyson seemed stunned for the rest of the fight, reducing his aggressiveness from the first two rounds. Paul stuck to the jab for the remaining five rounds using his reach advantage over Tyson, and swept the remaining six round.

Paul claimed he held back against Tyson because he “didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt.’’ Paul’s reluctance to be aggressive against Tyson after hurting him is probably why most viewers were disappointed by the fight because many were looking for a knockout. 

Adding to the disappointment of the main event, many viewers experienced problems while streaming the fight. In fact, 85,000 people experienced outages or streaming problems, per Down Detector. It was too late for these viewers to get their money back; they had already paid for their subscription. Netflix claimed these issues happened because the fight was a “mega-event,” which had “our [Netflix’s] buffering systems on the ropes.” 

Even with all the disappointment the fight delivered, the idea of a former Disney actor and social media sensation (Paul) fighting one of the greatest heavyweight boxers ever seemed like a fever dream to most people, but it became a reality. With a matchup this crazy, it was bound to break records.

Saint Paul’s senior Emerson Cochran felt it was “truly shocking” to watch Mike Tyson come out of retirement, especially against Jake Paul. 

“Ever since I’ve been growing up, I would’ve never thought I’d see Mike Tyson fight again in his career. It was truly shocking to see him fight at 58 years old, especially against a YouTuber that polarized my generation in Jake Paul,” Cochran said.

Paul looks to move on from Tyson and eventually become a cruiserweight world champion. Paul hasn’t announced his next opponent yet, but he plans to fight in early 2025.

Rumors have risen that Paul plans to avenge his controversial split decision loss from 2023 in a rematch with undefeated cruiserweight prospect Tommy Fury.

Meanwhile, Tyson was open to fighting Jake Paul’s brother, Logan Paul; however, Amir Tyson feels his father Mike “is done” after this fight, eyeing a final retirement, per Seconds Out.

Feature Photo Credit: Al Betto/Getty Images