Tyson vs Paul
The Biggest Fight Ever, May it Perhaps Inspire Forever
Professional boxing, a sport known for spectacle will see something it hasn’t seen before, if you can believe that, when Tyson vs Paul takes place on November 15, 2024, live on Netflix.
In one corner, we have the iconic 58 year old “Iron” Mike Tyson, one of, if not the hardest strikers of all time, a ferocious heavyweight, who reigned supreme for years. Many consider Tyson in the conversation of the GOAT in professional boxing, up there with Ali.
It could be argued that while Tyson did lose multiple times in the ring, it was his own demons that were his undoing, impacting his mental health, training, focus and led to how his career unfolded. And a truly dialed in Tyson is something we haven’t yet seen, until now.
Standing across from him will be Jake Paul, a multi-millionaire YouTuber and entertainer. It’s safe to say that he and his brother Logan are two of the most polarizing people alive today. But credit to Jake, as much as he might be reviled in some ways, he has dedicated his life to boxing and helping youth through it, in hopes of one day reaching the heights, or even the kneecaps of Tyson, as some sort of champion.
And somehow here we are in 2024, where worlds and fighting careers, the past, and wannabe future, collide now in the present.
“I feel like the 80s are fighting the 20s.” - comedian Josh Johnson
Tyson will be battling age and height disadavantages when he faces Paul. But he’s Mike Tyson, who knocked out 44 people in his career, with a style that neutralized and humbled taller opponents time and time again. While he probably doesn’t hit as hard as his prime anymore, he doesn’t have to because even at the age of 58, his technique and power are still going to be more powerful than the majority of boxers out there.
What can we say other than Tyson hits different…
On the flip side, Paul is a taller, more athletic, younger man, who hasn’t even hit the stride of his prime yet.
But what does any of this matter when all of this is spectacle, and it’s going to draw the largest televised boxing audience ever?
Netflix has an estimated 282+ million subscribers. In an article from 2017 on Civic Science, it was estimated that 72% of those accounts have multiple users per household and about a quarter of accounts have 4 or more people using the account. Let’s be super conservative and estimate only 5% of total subscribers watch the fight, that comes out to about 14 million and change. That still dwarfs the total purchases of 2015’s Mayweather vs Pacquiao, which had an estimated 4.6 million buys.
Is the connectivity of the world today creating the equivalent of the coliseums of the past? Just on a magnified level?
This is destined to be the most watched fight, whether people gather to watch the carnage live, on replay, in social higlights, alone, together, whatever.
It’s all so wild…
No matter how it goes, I wish both men good health through this, during, and after.
My bias is that I hope we see Tyson victorious, and not just because we both got custom tiger tattoos from Horiyume Tattoo Adam.
IMO, it’s the better outcome and the silver lining is that it will only drive Paul to be a healthier person and competitor. It also makes for a compelling narrative to tell youth he hopes to inspire through his Boxing Bullies, a non-profit that aims to use the sport as a way to help youth feel confident, show courage and lead against bullying.
While I don’t think Tyson is a bully in this scenario, sometimes overcoming the loss and the comeback that follows, is a lot more interesting that utter domination. That’s just as important a lesson for kids to learn early on, because guess what, Life is full of Loss, loads of it.