I confess that while I’m not quite old enough that I remember when big boxing matches were the staple of Friday night television, I am old enough to remember when an occasional title bout would be seen on widely distributed TV at no incremental cost. I distinctly recall several times when Muhammad Ali or George Foreman fought in primetime on ABC, with Howard Cosell’s dulcid intonations serving as the soundtrack. And I also recall the earlier days of good old fashioned pay cable when a force of nature from Brooklyn named Iron Mike Tyson was the champion of the world and the wonderful Larry Merchant and Jim Lampley would narrate his exploits from ringside.
So when Netflix announced that it would venture once again into live sports with its coverage of the much-delayed and anticipated-like-a-car wreck battle of the ages between the now 58-year-old Tyson and 27-year-old influencer-cum-aspiring contender Jake Paul, thus becoming one of this era’s rare fights of any consequence to bypass pay-per-view, I was curious enough to settle in and give it a look, just like I did back in the day.
I wasn’t alone, apparently, and per THE ASSOCIATED PRESS poor Netflix got caught off guard even more than either of last night’s foes did:
Netflix’s first attempt at handling a live sports event did not receive a passing grade.
The fight Friday night between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul experienced streaming problems according to many viewers on social media. Many viewers took to Twitter/X and Bluesky to express their frustrations with streaming and buffering problems before and during the fight. According to the website Down Detector, nearly 85,000 viewers logged problems with outages or streaming leading up to the fight. Netflix representatives had no comment via e-mails to The Associated Press on the streaming problems viewers experienced leading up to or during the fight. 
Perhaps the gang in Los Gatos had fallen asleep as I did from the exhausting ritual of rebooting and fast forwarding (a trick I had to learn from those bitching on X).
As for the fight itself, it was even more underwhelming, as CBS NEWS’ Alex Sundby reported just after its conclusion:
Social media star Jake Paul defeated boxing legend Mike Tyson in a highly anticipated fight with an age difference of over three decades between the two contenders. The Friday night win for the YouTuber-turned-pro-boxer was streamed on Netflix from the home of the Dallas Cowboys in Texas.
Paul defeated Tyson by unanimous decision after the two fighters went eight full rounds, with each round two minutes long. Tyson came out strong, but faded as the fight went along, while Paul gained confidence and appeared to have Tyson on his heels for the final few rounds.
Well, it was sixteen more minutes of competitive action that has been seen lately on the football field from the home team.
The aftermath was as kumbaya as the build-up was combative, as Sundby further wrote:
After the decision was announced, the two fighters hugged. Paul was complementary of Tyson, calling him “a legend and the greatest to ever do it. He’s the GOAT. I look up to him, I’m inspired by him. This man is an icon.”
Tyson said he was “absolutely happy” with how he fought, describing Paul as a “very good fighter.”
A…flare-up happened during the official weigh-in Thursday with Tyson slapping Paul in the face. Tyson later told the New York Post that Paul had stepped on his toe when the two were toe to toe onstage.
Now I certainly attest that those theatrics were more entertaining and the impact on anticipation greater back in the days when the Friday night fights were more commonly seen on regular TV, whetted by how spectacular the actual action for the few that weren’t proved to be.
Tyson did attempt to sound like another former champion when asked about what might come next, again per Sundby:
After the fight was finished, Tyson said he wasn’t sure he was done boxing, saying it “depends on the situation,” before pointing at Paul’s older brother Logan as a possible next opponent.
“I’d kill you, Mike,” joked Logan Paul, who fought an exhibition against Floyd Mayweather in 2021.
Maybe by then Netflix will have figured out a better way to handle whatever size audience they might eventually cop to admitting showed up for a live event. Their own Countdown to Christmas, when they will be exclusively showing their first-ever NFL games, both of which may be crucial to impending playoffs, has gotten that much closer and the scrutiny that much more intense.
Good luck, Netflix. You’re gonna be in more intense training in the next few weeks that either Tyson or either Paul will be.
Courage…