Ahead of his scheduled fight against legendary heavyweight Mike Tyson next month on Netflix, YouTuber Jake Paul is confident that the event will draw a massive number of viewers.
Per Seth Abramovitch of The Hollywood Reporter, Paul "has predicted 25 million, which would make it the most-watched boxing match of all time." Meanwhile, insiders are reportedly comparing the fight to one of the biggest annual events in the world.
"While Netflix won't speak to global viewership expectations, the Super Bowl comes up in off-the-record conversations as an only slightly outlandish aspirational benchmark — and 124 million tuned in for Super Bowl LVIII," Abramovitch stated.
Paul and Tyson were originally scheduled to face each other on July 20, but an ulcer flare-up forced Tyson to withdraw from the fight. After it was rescheduled to Nov. 15 while keeping its original location of AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Paul still chose to fight on July 20 and defeated Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship star Mike Perry via sixth-round TKO in a one-sided contest.
Since the fight between Paul and Tyson was announced there has been a fair share of detractors who criticized the matchup over the 30-year age difference between the two of them. Still, it sounds like fans will have no issues tuning in to watch a 58-year-old take on a 27-year-old.
Abramovitch noted that over 70,000 fans are expected to pack AT&T Stadium, a figure that is unheard of in today's state of boxing. Netflix also boasts over 270 million subscribers who will be able to stream the company's first live combat sports event without additional pay-per-view fees.
Abramovitch also pointed out that while official fight purses have not been announced, Paul said at a pre-fight press conference that he will be making $40 million for the event, and Tyson is "rumored" to be making $20 million.
All signs point to Nov. 15 being a memorable night that will go down in boxing history as one of the biggest events of all time.
