History is made…but at fans’ expense. No, we’re not the ones saying it but boxing fans who tuned in to watch the highly anticipated Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul clash, only to be left dissatisfied. And all it took was a tweet from LIV golfer Bryson DeChambeau, for fans to air their frustrations heavily on social media. But before we get to that part…

The Tyson-Paul fight has been in the making for months, after being postponed from the original July 20 date owing to Tyson’s medical emergency—the veteran suffered an ulcer flare-up while travelling from Miami to Los Angeles in May. So, when the duo squared off exactly three months later, as expected, fans were hyped, intensified by the multiple blows the duo traded against each other. From calling Paul “fat” to being called “boring”, the fight had every aspect to make it a highly entertaining spectacle. Well, except for the boxing part.

With a staggering 70,000 spectators present at Texas’ AT&T Stadium, and 280 million Netflix subscribers sitting at home with the fight at their fingertips, records were broken. The event broke a 22-year record—made by Tyson himself in 2002 by generating a $17.5million income for his meeting with Lennox Lewis—with the event’s gate surpassing $17.8M, as per a press release by Jake Paul-owned Most Valuable Promotions (MVP). The two embraced after the fight, with Tyson surviving the final bell, and Paul was declared the winner, with scorecards reading 80-72, 79-73, and 79-73 in his favor. But still, it was a tough and disappointing watch for boxing fans, as the legend, slow and sluggish, appeared a mere shadow of his former self. Instead, what saved the day was the exciting bout between seven-division world champion Amanda Serrano and the undisputed and lineal world lightweight champion since 2019, Katie Taylor—an emotion further amplified by DeChambeau.

Completely ignoring ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ and ‘The Problem Child’, the 31-year-old took to his X account to praise the co-main event. “Serrano vs Taylor was one of the best competitive boxing matches I’ve ever seen,” the golfer wrote, sharing his honest take. Even the owner of Golf News Net, Ryan Ballengee, put a rather humorous stance to the match. He wrote, “Maybe Jake Paul can take on Bernhard Langer next”, mentioning the 67-year-old German professional golfer. But only if this was all to the day’s disappointment…

Unfortunately, when the fans tuned into Netflix to witness the event live, it started crashing with a flurry of buffering issues. Leading up to the featured event, Netflix’s servers struggled to keep up with the demand, and fans were definitely not happy, as not only did they shun any mention of the Tyson-Paul bout, but also heavily praised the two iconic women boxers.

Serrano-Taylor steal the show

“Serrano vs. Taylor was truly a masterpiece of competitive boxing! The intensity and skill on display made it one of the most exciting matches ever!” one social media user mentioned. Serrano was narrowly defeated in a 95-94 controversial decision after a stellar performance. The Puerto Rican was the busier boxer, landing 329 of 724 punches, as compared to her opponent, who landed 217 of 529 blows. After the loss, Serrano also took to X to throw a dig at the judges, writing, “I landed 107 more punches, she got a point deducted and I lost 95-94 lmfao”, to which one user event replied, “after I saw these stats and the headbutts, can somebody explain how Serrano lost? I never watch boxing but you clearly should have won,” accompanied by a crying face emoji. 

The reactions mirrored to that under DeChambeau’s post, with one social media user venting, “Serrano won clean. With a -1 penalty, the idea that Taylor came out ahead is absolutely mental.”

On the other hand, some even took digs at the streaming giant for their lackluster service, during what was the company’s first live sporting event. “The short clips I saw between buffering and crashes were something,” wrote one X user in a sarcastic tone. Notably, there were also some broadcasting issues in the beginning of the event, with boxing veteran Evander Holyfield’s (the boxer who lost a part of his right ear to Mike Tyson) earpiece, and Jerry Jones’ microphone malfunctioning.

Though Netflix has declined to comment on the matter, this is not the first time similar problems have occurred. Last year, the streaming giant’s “Love is Blind” live reunion stayed inaccessible to user throughout, prompting an apology from the company. “To everyone who stayed up late, woke up early, gave up their Sunday afternoon… we are incredibly sorry that the Love is Blind Live Reunion did not turn out as we had planned. We’re filming it now and we’ll have it on Netflix as soon as humanly possible. Again, thank you and sorry,” Netflix wrote on April 16 last year, on X.

Having said that, one comment praised the two women, saying, “By far the best fight I’ve seen since back in the real Tyson days. Well done ladies,” while another one commented, “it was very competitive… not sure about that result though… even with the point deduction?” Notably, Taylor had one point deducted in the eighth round after repeatedly being warned against leading with the head. The result was not well-received by the live audience as they booed while Taylor claimed her belts.

“I don’t care if the crowd of the commentary team don’t like it. I certainly wasn’t fighting dirty. It gets rough in there,” the Irish boxer reacted after the fight. Serrano, on the other hand, was definitely heartbroken, as she opined, “I knew it if went to the judges it was going to be a little shady…”She kept headbutting me, but we knew that from the very beginning.”

Having said that, what’s your opinion about the fights? Let us know in the comments below!