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Jake Paul breaking Canelo's record—Is this a sign of boxing's decline or evolution?

In the latest episode of his podcast show BS w/ Jake Paul, ‘The Problem Child’ boldly claimed, “We already broke uh Canelo’s record in Texas like we shattered it….. sold like 45000 …. with the ticket price, we already broke the financial record, we shattered it.” For those unaware, Jake Paul will be sharing the ring with heavyweight legend Mike Tyson on November 15. However, is there any truth to the claim that the upcoming fight broke Canelo Alvarez‘s ticket sales record in Texas with still over two months left for the fight?

The fight to be analyzed is Cinnamon’s showdown with Billie Joel Saunders in 2021 at AT&T Stadium. Paul’s upcoming fight will also take place at the same venue. A deep dive into the financial windfall of the bout is needed to truly find out if Paul’s claim holds any modicum of truth. Without further ado, let’s get straight into crunching some numbers to find out if the popular Mexican fighter’s long-standing record in Texas stays unbroken or not.

What is Canelo Alvarez’s gate record in Texas?

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Super middleweight champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez’s title fight against Billy Joel Saunders broke records as a massive crowd of 73,126 people gathered at Texas’ 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium to watch the fight.

August 3, 2018 – San Diego, CA, USA – SAN DIEGO, August 3, 2018 Boxer Canelo Alvarez during his workout at his training facility in San Diego on Friday Hayne Palmour IV/San Diego Union-Tribune/Mandatory Credit: HAYNE PALMOUR IV/SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE/ZUMA PRESS San Diego Union-Tribune Hayne Palmour IV copyright 2018 San Diego California News – August 3, 2018 – ZUMAs44_ 84884577st Copyright: xHaynexPalmourxIvx

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Jake Paul breaking Canelo's record—Is this a sign of boxing's decline or evolution?

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The matchup churned out impressive figures as it set the all-time record for an indoor US boxing event, breaking the previous record set by the legendary Muhammad Ali and Leon Spinks, who fought in front of 63,352 people at the Louisiana Superdome. Furthermore, it became the largest crowd at a sporting event since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The fight didn’t disappoint either, as Canelo broke Saunders’ orbital bone in the eighth round, leaving the Briton unable to come out for the ninth round. Before the TKO, the audience got to witness a Canelo masterclass as he dominated the opening seven rounds and even led on the judges’ scorecard.

The successful event generated a live gate of $9,002,920. Now, if we consider Jake Paul’s ‘45000’ ticket sales number to be true, did the revenue it generated until now break Canelo’s record?

Did MVP Co-Founder’s prediction on Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight come true?

With still over two months left for the fight, the bout has supposedly sold 45,000 tickets, according to Jake Paul. Based on the average ticket price of $248, the bout would have already garnered the most gate revenue in Texas combat sports history (boxing or MMA), overshadowing the Canelo Alvarez-Billy Joe Saunders fight at AT&T Stadium in 2021. However, the upcoming event has still not beaten the Canelo-Saunders record in terms of the number of tickets sold. Based on Jake Paul’s statement on his podcast, they have “paused” ticket sales for a brief period.

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Nonetheless, it is still well on its way to surpass even that record. What would be even more mind-boggling is if Paul and Tyson filled the entire 80,000-seat stadium. On that note, Jake Paul’s business partner and Most Valuable Promotions’ co-founder Nakisa Bidarian’s prediction in May seems to have come true: “In terms of boxing or MMA…. live gate is $9 million that was Canelo versus Saunders. UFC’s biggest gate in this state $4.3 million. My prediction within 24 hours Paul versus Tyson will become the largest live gate in the history of the state of Texas for Combat Sports.” 

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But we should still wait till the official numbers are confirmed!

Moreover, in his recent appearance on Logan Paul’s podcast ImPaulsive, Mike Tyson stated, “If you think I am too old for this fight, come tell me in my face. It’s the biggest fight ever. All this other fighters and all this other…it is all about jealousy. They wish they can do it. They can’t. They wish so bad they were in our position.”

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Several fight analysts and commentators have expressed concern about Tyson’s health owing to his age. 58-year-old Tyson will be going up against a boxer who is 31 years younger than him. Thus, there is a chance that Tyson could get badly hurt in the fight. Conversely, you can never rule out Tyson’s power, and nobody can deny a puncher’s chance to ‘Iron Mike,’ who was a seasoned knockout artist in his heydays. The fight will be set for eight two-minute rounds and will be sanctioned as a pro fight.

Who do you think will win the contest? Jake Paul or Mike Tyson? Let us know in the comment section below.

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