The long-awaited battle between Iron Mike Tyson and Jake Paul was plagued by Netflix issues that impacted the broadcast’s quality and availability.
Interest was high for Mike Tyson’s return to the boxing ring to battle upstart social media megastar Jake Paul. It seemed as though the whole world was ready to watch The Baddest Man on the Planet do battle with the brash boxing superstar.
However, a series of Netflix issues prevented many from tuning in, with reports of endless buffering and diminished visual quality setting off a wave of fan frustration on X.
While some reported problems early in the night, the quality and availability of the live stream suffered during the Junior Welterweight title bout between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, a rematch of what many have called the greatest women’s boxing match of all time.
The stream started to pixelate and cut out, leaving frustrated fans endlessly refreshing their feed in the hopes that things might normalize by the time Tyson made his long-awaited walk to the ring.
Heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson leans on the ropes after knocking down challenger Tyrell Biggs in the seventh round of their championship bout at Convention Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on October 16, 1987. The referee is Tony Orlando and Sugar Ray Leonard (in red bow tie) is visible in the background.
Photo Credit: Bill Cramer/Wonderful Machine
<https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
While that was by far the biggest issue of the night, it certainly wasn’t the only one.
Production issues plagued the entire broadcast. At one point, former World Heavyweight Champion Evander Holyfield was interviewed on the broadcast. However, his earpiece malfunctioned, leaving the man who had his ear bitten off by Tyson in 1997 unable to hear the questions being asked.
Later in the night, as Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones touted the positive qualities of Netflix and celebrated the streaming company’s upcoming collaboration with the NFL, his microphone cut out, leaving him muted.
YouTube personality and boxer Jake Paul –
Photo Credit: Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Netflix also appeared to lack a time delay in its broadcast. After a brief interview with Tyson in his locker room, the former world champion walked away from the camera, showing his bare bottom to the world. This faux pas could have been easily corrected and dumped out had the company implemented a seven second delay to the live feed.
By the time the main event fight between Tyson and Paul started, many were able to access the feed again through mobile devices and computers. But the fight that took place was certainly not what anyone was expecting.
The 58 year old Tyson was slow and sluggish. Paul danced around the former champ for eight two minute rounds, throwing punches from a distance and retreating. Tyson didn’t have the speed or strength in his legs to give chase. What followed was a slow plodding fight that lacked the explosive brilliance that many remembered and (perhaps unfairly) expected from Tyson fights of the past.
In the end, Paul won by unanimous decision.
This major night for Netflix turned into an evening of frustration and fury on the part of the company’s subscribers. Today, the discourse surrounding the event is overwhelmingly negative with fans voicing their displeasure at both the quality of the fight and the broadcast itself.
Were you able to watch the Mike Tyson Jake Paul fight or did Netflix issues cause you to miss it? What do you think about Netflix’s ability to broadcast live NFL games in the future? Sound off and let us know!
