Jake Paul beat a 58-year-old Mike Tyson as Netflix drew 60 million homes in Arlington

On 15 November 2024, before a crowd of more than 70,000 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and tens of millions of Netflix viewers, 27-year-old Jake Paul beat 58-year-old Mike Tyson by unanimous decision over eight two-minute rounds. The fight had been delayed four months by a health scare. It broke streaming and gate records, the stream buckled under the load, and the boxing itself drew boos.

A Sanctioned Fight Across a 31-Year Gap

The matchup was first announced as an exhibition, but on 29 April 2024 the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation approved it as a sanctioned professional bout. That meant the result would go on both men's records, and knockouts and knockdowns would count. The commission's terms still showed how unusual the event was: eight rounds of two minutes each instead of three, 14-ounce gloves and no headgear.

Jake Paul, the YouTube personality turned prizefighter, came in with a record of 10 wins and 1 loss, 7 of the wins by knockout. Mike Tyson, the former undisputed heavyweight champion, brought a record of 50 wins and 6 losses, with 44 knockouts and two no-contests. At the opening bell Paul was 27 years and 9 months old and Tyson was 58 years and 4 months, a gap of 31 years that Wikipedia's account of the event calls the largest in professional boxing history.

The Ulcer Flare-Up That Moved the Date

The original date was 20 July 2024, in Arlington, with Netflix streaming the card. Late in May, Tyson, then 57, became nauseous and dizzy during the last hour of a flight from Miami to Los Angeles, and first responders met the plane when it landed. His team put the episode down to an ulcer. After a follow-up consultation, the promoters said doctors wanted him limited to minimal or light training for several weeks, and on 31 May the July date was dropped.

Both men played down the setback. Tyson said in a statement, carried by The Canadian Press, that his body was in its best overall shape since the 1990s and that he would soon be back to full training. Paul said he fully supported the delay so that Tyson would have no excuses on fight night. Ticket holders were told their tickets would be honoured on the new date, and on 7 June Netflix confirmed the fight would move to Friday, 15 November, at the same stadium.

Fight Week in Texas

The extra months gave the critics more time. Many observers called it a mismatch that set a celebrity in his prime against a man close to sixty. UFC middleweight Sean Strickland was quoted as saying "this should be illegal," and the YouTuber and boxer KSI dismissed the bout as elder abuse. Tyson answered by pointing to his training camp and calling himself a different species of human being.

At the final weigh-in, Paul stepped on Tyson's toes and Tyson slapped him across the face. Tyson later told the New York Post that he had to reciprocate. Reported purses were about $40 million for Paul and about $20 million for Tyson. Before the bell, a supposed fight script spread online. Its authenticity was widely doubted, and Most Valuable Promotions, Paul's company, denied any arrangement, noting that a scripted result would be illegal and would break licensing rules.

Eight Two-Minute Rounds in Arlington

For a short while the old Tyson showed up. In the first round he landed heavy shots to the body while Paul used his jab and footwork to keep his distance, and the frequent clinches drew boos from the stands. The second round followed the same pattern, with Paul staying away from Tyson's power and tying him up when he got close.

The third round changed the fight. Tyson came out aggressively and walked into left hooks. Paul grew more confident and began landing clean punches on an opponent who was moving less and less. Tyson still found a stiff overhand right at the end of the fourth and a shot to the head in the seventh, but by then his output had nearly stopped. According to CompuBox figures reported by NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth with The Associated Press, Tyson landed only six punches over the last five rounds and threw fewer than ten in each of the last three.

The final punch count was lopsided. CompuBox credited Paul with 78 of 278 punches landed, including 31 of 179 jabs, and Tyson with 18 of 97, including 5 of 62 jabs. Sky Sports described Tyson as slow to get off his stool for the eighth round. In the closing seconds Paul dropped his hands and bowed toward him, and the two embraced at the final bell. The judges scored it 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73, all for Paul.

The Netflix Broadcast and Its Buffering

For Netflix the night was its biggest test as a live sports broadcaster, and the numbers were huge. The company said 60 million households worldwide watched the main event live and that the audience peaked at 65 million concurrent streams. Some outlets reported that figure as concurrent viewers. Wikipedia's article on the event describes it as the most-streamed sporting event ever at the time. The co-main event, Katie Taylor against Amanda Serrano, drew nearly 50 million households by Netflix's count.

The delivery did not hold up as well. Many subscribers reported buffering, frozen pictures and dropped audio, and Downdetector logged about 90,000 outage reports in the hour before the main event, according to Wikipedia's summary of the coverage. Field Level Media also noted that viewers at home ran into problems during the broadcast.

The undercard gave the stream its most competitive action. Katie Taylor kept her undisputed light-welterweight titles with a unanimous decision over Amanda Serrano, scored 95-94 on all three cards, in a rematch marked by a point deduction against Taylor for headbutts and a cut over Serrano's right eye. The WBC welterweight title fight between Mario Barrios and Abel Ramos ended in a split draw, and Neeraj Goyat beat Whindersson Nunes on points.

Boos, Records and the Reaction

Inside the stadium the verdict came quickly. NBC 5 reported that many fans left before the scorecards were read and that Paul got little response when he praised Tyson in the ring and called him "the greatest to ever do it." CBS Sports blamed the slow pace partly on the shorter rounds and bigger gloves. Paul said afterwards that he had wanted to give the fans a show without hurting someone who did not need to be hurt. He also admitted he had been scared that Tyson would hurt him.

Tyson took a more personal view. When asked what finishing the fight meant to him, he said he had proved something only to himself. When Netflix asked whether this was his last time in the ring, he said he did not know.

The business numbers were less mixed. Promoters announced an attendance of 72,300, while Sky Sports put the crowd at about 70,000. Field Level Media reported a gate of $18,117,072, a record for a boxing or MMA event held outside Las Vegas and about double the $9 million reported for Canelo Alvarez against Billy Joe Saunders in 2021. As a contest, Jake Paul against Mike Tyson was one-sided. As a live event it reached a larger audience than almost any fight before it, and many in boxing were uneasy about what that said about the sport.

Sources

• Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson, Wikipedia, accessed 13 November 2026
• Mike Tyson's fight with Jake Paul has been postponed after Tyson's health episode, TSN / The Canadian Press, 31 May 2024
• Jake Paul claims unanimous decision win over Mike Tyson, Sky Sports, 16 November 2024
• Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight results, winners, highlights, undercard on Netflix, CBS Sports, 16 November 2024
• Who won Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth with The Associated Press, 16 November 2024
• 60 Million Households Tuned in Live for Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson, Netflix, 16 November 2024
• Paul-Tyson fetches non-Vegas record $18.1M revenue, sets streaming record, Field Level Media, 19 November 2024