The most anticipated boxing match of the last decade took place on Nov. 15. Streaming on Netflix, this fight was much more accessible than any of Jake Paul’s previous fights. For the first time in many younger people’s lifetimes, we were able to see The Baddest Man on the Planet fight in real time.
As someone who has followed this fight closely from the moment it was announced, I was very excited to see Mike Tyson beat some sense into Paul. However, I was hopelessly disappointed. The night kicked off with some commentators speaking and a performance by the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, before moving onto some of the exhibition fights.
Before getting to the heart of the matter, I would like to touch on the Netflix streaming issue that occurred for many viewers at the time of the fight. When over 65 million households are watching something this big, you have to make sure that your live streaming actually works. The constant loading happening during this livestream was inexcusable from Netflix, and if they plan on making future live events like this, they need to make sure they fix that issue as soon as possible.
The first fight was between Indian fighter Neeraj Goyat and Brazilian fighter Whindersson Nunes, which resulted in a win for Goyat. The second fight opposed two Mexican fighters, Mario Barrios and Abel Ramos, resulting in a tie.
The rematch between Puerto Rican fighter Amanda Serrano and Irish fighter Katie Taylor was highly anticipated as well – revenge being one of the main reasons. The first time the two women fought, Taylor won, contrary to public opinion. This time, Taylor won and once again, the crowd was not pleased. The match was 10 rounds of two minutes each, and by the end of it, both fighters definitely had given it their all. I personally just believe that Serrano was a better fighter at the end of the day, but the judges gave Taylor a win by only one point. Serrano also felt that Taylor fought dirty due to the head butting she gave to Serrano. It caused a massive gash above her eyelid, just below her eyebrow, which kept bleeding throughout the fight. When they announced Taylor as the winner, the crowd booed, and I believe this was because not only was Serrano robbed of her win the first time these two fought, but she was robbed again when she clearly had the better performance. They then moved on to what was easily the most entertaining fight of all four, including Tyson vs. Paul.
This match has created a lot of excitement for the fight we have all been looking forward to: Iron Mike vs. The Problem Child. Prior to the fight, Tori Kelly performed the national anthem and did an absolutely beautiful job. Her voice was amazing and angelic, really embodying what The Star Spangled Banner is all about.
First of all, Paul literally appeared riding on top of a lowrider, while the song “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins played. Logan Paul, Jake’s older brother, was also in the car with him, spraying and promoting Jake’s new hygiene company, W. While all this was happening, the crowd was booing him, leaving you to guess who the popular opponent was. I personally felt like this was super cringe, because when Tyson came out, he looked ready to kill. This man was so locked in that I didn’t even know if Jake was going to be alive at the end of this match –but I was wrong.
During the first round, Tyson threw a lot of good punches. At one point, Jake looked scared and was running away. Honestly, the highlight of the match was when Tyson delivered a punch that knocked Jake into the ropes. The rest of the rounds were absolutely disappointing. You could clearly see that Tyson no longer had that fighting spirit in him anymore and as the rounds progressed, Tyson’s fighting regressed.
The only thing I could think of the whole time watching this match was that it felt like I was just witnessing elder abuse. I was just waiting for it to be over. That really upset me since I have been waiting for this fight for months with a lot of excitement. Another notable moment was in the last 10 seconds of the last round, when Jake Paul bowed down to Mike Tyson, essentially to show respect to him and shortly after the bell rang, they embraced one another. By the end of the fight, they announced the winner and to the crowd’s disappointment, it was Jake “El Gallo” Paul.
Overall, this was a disappointing fight on so many levels. Not only was the streaming constantly lagging and Serrano got robbed again, but we had to witness an old man get beat up by someone young enough to be his son. The whole event was just really anticlimactic, and I really wish Tyson still had that fighting spirit in him, but ultimately there’s only so much a 58-year-old can do.
In my opinion, this does not damage Tyson’s legacy, but it hurts Paul’s because either way, he lost. If he physically lost, he got beat up by an old man, but since he won, he still lost because he beat up an old man. I think Paul will continue to ring in these lows, and we will have to wait and see where he ends up.
