The long-awaited Netflix boxing card headlined by Mike Tyson and Jake Paul is officially in the books, with the younger Paul recording a unanimous decision win over the living legend.
It was a night filled with brutal action inside the ring, vociferous boos from the crowd and some unexpected chaos outside that only boxing can provide.
Here are your five quick hits from the Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul fight night in Texas.
1. Netflix’s servers fail a major streaming test
The Tyson vs Paul event being broadcast live on Netflix was a major test of the streaming platform’s ability to host world-renowned sporting events.
Netflix is also planning to host an NFL clash on Christmas Day between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers, one of two marquee NFL games for the day, but might have some work to do ahead of those clashes.
As the main event got closer and closer, viewers all over the world experienced issues with the app. Fans complained of endless buffering delays, the app freezing and being unable to watch the live event, well, live.
The entire production’s struggles were summed up when Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was on the set for an interview earlier in the event.
Netflix had seemingly brought Jones onto the set to spruik the streaming service’s ability to host large-scale sporting events, but as Jones tried to talk up Netflix, his mic died.
Netflix also has aspirations of broadcasting WWE Raw live to the world in January 2025, but will have to improve its servers if that event is to go through without any major hiccups.
2. Mike Tyson breaks the internet by getting cheeky
A large part of any major boxing card is the pre-fight interviews that take place between the two fighters ahead of the main event.
The interviews in the locker room help build anticipation as the fight approaches, and this time it was Paul who went first.
The story of the lead-up to the fight was when Tyson slapped Paul and the outspoken Paul said he was “so happy” to be on the receiving end of the shot, adding that the pre-fight clash “makes it personal”.
Tyson’s interview was much shorter, but much more memorable.
Interviewed by one of his sons, Tyson was asked what his prediction was and replied by simply saying, “Vicious win”, before kissing his son on the cheek and walking away to continue his preparations.
The camera zoomed out to reveal Tyson wearing a jockstrap before the former heavyweight champion turned around, flashing his bare buttocks at the camera.
Just a bizarre moment on a bizarre, bizarre night.
3. Tyson challenges the other Paul brother
After lasting all eight rounds against Jake Paul — an incredibly impressive feat for a 58-year-old, Tyson was asked whether the world would see him in the ring once again.
The hall of fame legend refused to rule out another fight down the line, and when pressed about who he’d like to fight, Tyson suggested Jake Paul’s brother, Logan.
Ariel Helwani, who was conducting the interviews in the ring, immediately found Logan saying, “Logan, I think he said you might be next”, like an instigator trying to set up a fight between two bullies in a schoolyard somewhere.
If you pause right at the moment Helwani asks Logan Paul about fighting Tyson, the reactions are amazing.
Tyson is on one side of Helwani, cackling like a crazed monster, Logan is on the other side of him with a look on his face that is equal parts bemused, shocked and also terrified.
Nevertheless, as the Paul brothers tend to do, Logan talked tough.
“Motherf****r, I’d kill you, Mike,” he said, to which Helwani replied, “Oh please, no, no, no”.
I think the rest of the world, having been terrified of the prospect of some serious damage done to Tyson in this fight, would tend to agree with Helwani’s comments.
Grab your $20 million and sail off into the sunset, Mike.
4. Katie Taylor wins amid cheating allegations in bloodbath
Whenever Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano meet in the ring, fireworks are guaranteed.
The majority of fans who tuned in for the entire card may have been left disappointed by the lack of action in the Tyson-Paul main event, but they can’t have any complaints about the title fight between Taylor and Serrano.
In the end, it was the Irish fighter Taylor who took home the unanimous decision win in controversial circumstances after a fight that ended with Serrano covered in blood.
An inadvertent head clash between the two caused a massive gash above Serrano’s right eye, that leaked blood throughout the rest of the fight.
Katie Taylor’s win over Amanda Serrano was met with loud boos inside the stadium in Texas. (Getty Images: Stephen McCarthy)
Taylor had a point deducted for leading with her head in the eighth round, and after the right, the Serrano camp was left incensed.
“She kept headbutting me. It’s what she does,” Serrano said afterwards.
“It’s not just my fight, it’s all her fights.
“Of course. It’s what she does.”
Serrano’s coach Jordan Maldonado, after unloading on Taylor during the fight itself, doubled down by essentially calling the Irishwoman a cheat.
5. Australian’s Texan adventure fails to yield a win
This boxing card had a little bit of an Australian flavour to it as well, as Queensland featherweight Dana Coolwell faced off against America’s Bruce Carrington.
Sadly, things did not go so well for Coolwell over in Texas.
He was dropped twice on his way to a unanimous decision defeat.
Queensland’s Dana Coolwell came up short against the undefeated American Bruce Carrington. (Getty Images: Tayfun Coskun)
All three judges gave undefeated Carrington all eight rounds in the one-sided encounter.
It’s the third career defeat for the 25-year-old Queenslander, but what an experience in what was just his second career overseas fight.
Carrington’s win allowed him to retain an unbeaten career record, as he extended his winning streak to 13.
The loss was Coolwell’s third of his career.
