No matter how controversial the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight was, it shattered many records. The Problem Child earned $40 million for the fight, making it his highest payday, the Amanda Serrano vs Katie Taylor fight not only featured two biggest paydays for female boxers, but it also garnered 50 million viewers, making it the most-watched women’s combat event in history.
However, 72,000 fans rushed inside the AT&T Stadium for the main event and even though it was severely underwhelming action, it delivered in terms of viewership for the organizers. The fight shattered Netflix viewership records as nearly 60 million households tuned in to the fight. The streams, according to Netflix, peaked at 65 million households during the main event, causing severe outages. However, it turns out that despite all its highs, the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight failed to break the worldwide viewership record for a boxing match. Not only that, it and ranks quite low on the list behind several historic fights.
Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson numbers from a historical perspective
According to a post made by Boxing Showtimes on Instagram, the November 15th fight in Texas failed to surpass many of the historic fights of the 70s including the Muhammad Ali vs. Leon Spinks rematch, which attracted a staggering 2 billion viewers worldwide on its broadcast. Ali vs Spinks rematch is one of the most significant matches in boxing history. “The Greatest” successfully regained his heavyweight titles in September 1978 at the Louisiana Superdome, in front of a record attendance of 60,000 people.
Furthermore, Muhammad Ali’s ‘Last Hurrah’ against Larry Holmes also garnered almost 2 billion viewers. The 56-5 boxer returned from his retirement for this fight in Las Vegas. While it is now considered one of the grimmest boxing events ever as Holmes dismantled an aged and out-of-shape Ali, everyone was glued to their television to watch “The Greatest” dance for a final time.
The Jake Paul–Mike Tyson fight was not even close to touching those numbers. Possibly, the numbers took a massive hit due to Netflix’s constant streaming issues and lag, but it was still very far off from the historic numbers put up by the legendary events.
The worst thing is that even though the Tyson-Paul fight broke the Netflix record, it ranks quite low in terms of viewership in boxing events; a list that is completely dominated by the late great Muhammad Ali.
Muhammad Ali’s Legacy Outshines All
Muhammad Ali’s ‘The Last Hurrah’ and his rematch against Leon Spinks are not only two of the most-watched boxing events but are also two of the most-watched live broadcasts of all time. Not only that, Muhammad Ali was featured on the list two more times as his exhibition fight against Antonio Inoki and his ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ against George Foreman both crossed 1 billion viewers.
Inoki vs. Ali, termed ‘The War of the Worlds’, took place in Tokyo, Japan, in front of a rabid NJPW-loving crowd. This boxing-MMA exhibition bout became iconic as Inoki was constantly kicking and trying to amputate the legend. In the end, it was a draw. Ali’s fight against Foreman is one of the biggest sporting events in history. 60,000 witnessed the fight live in Congo and generated more than $100 million in revenue.
The list also features the 2017 bout between Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium in front of a record-breaking 90,000 fans for AJ’s IBF Heavyweight title. The fight generated 1.631 million pay-per-view buys in the UK, and attracted 10.43 million viewers on RTL in Germany, setting new records. According to reports, 500 million viewers watched this fight around the world, making it the most-watched modern fight in history.
Even though the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight might not be comparable to these classics, it still set a new benchmark. Considering the dip in boxing popularity and the massive rise of illegal streams, it is still a huge achievement. The bout has put the boxing on world map once again and everyone is talking about the sport after a long time. This is exactly what the sport needed in the first place.
What are your views regarding the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight viewership numbers? Let us know your thoughts down below.
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