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Also read: Tyson slaps Paul in the face before the fight
SPECIAL COLLABORATION
It is this evening at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, that “Iron” Mike Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs) will return to the ring to cross gloves with Jake “The Problem Child” Paul ( 10-1, 7 KOs).
The event was preceded by a promotion and an exhaustive marketing plan across social media and on Netflix’s digital platform which is the largest of its kind with 282 million subscribers worldwide, including 67 million in the United States alone.
By comparison, Amazon Prime has 230 million subscribers, ESPN 25 million and DAZN 20 million.
If Netflix decided to invest in boxing it would be phenomenal news for the entire industry. It is possible that the digital distribution giant will use this event as a barometer. During the promotion, we saw cross publications with Top Rank which is looking for a new distributor given the expiry of its agreement with ESPN next summer.
Thus the promotion around the Tyson/Paul confrontation has generated enormous notoriety, which goes completely beyond the scope of professional boxing. We have two popular celebrities, one as an influencer in social networks and the other for his aura of intimidator par excellence in the history of boxing during his best years in the ring.
To measure the impact, last May we had the most significant heavyweight fight in 25 years in professional boxing when Oleksandr Usyk unified the four belts against Tyson Fury, in Saudi Arabia. Before this big fight, I was not asked once to express my opinion on the subject. For Tyson/Paul I was approached from everywhere on numerous occasions.
Twenty years have passed since Tyson’s last significant presence in the ring. We have forgotten, and for the youngest we have never even seen, his three defeats by knockout. in his last four fights, including his last in 2005 against a stooge, an Irishman Kevin McBride. It’s now almost 30 years since Tyson made his opponents tremble.
Despite everything, we remain fascinated by this great athlete who was the youngest heavyweight world champion at just 21 years old in 1986 and who was dominant for 10 years until 1996. During this period he was “The Baddest Man on Earth “. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2011. He is, without a doubt, a true living legend.
Since 2020, Jake Paul has wanted to improvise as a boxer. At first he seemed to take himself less seriously with victories against other celebrities who dabbled in boxing for the first time such as YouTuber Ali Eson Gib, ex-New York Knicks star Nate Robinson, retired arts star mixed martial arts Ben Askren and others of the same type.
His presence in boxing fascinated his fans, who grew in number as Paul’s discourse changed, as he considered himself a legitimate contender and even dared to challenge Canelo Alvarez.
The truth is that Jake Paul, despite undoubted athletic qualities, will never be what he claims to be as a boxer, but he has a certain charisma and is the best salesman in the entire industry after Canelo Alvarez. However, the Mexican fills the stadiums with solid fights against legitimate contenders and Paul succeeds just as much, but with boxing shows, hence the great nuance.
Tonight there will be 70,000 spectators inside the Cowboys’ home and probably several million on Netflix for an exhibition between two big stars who will apparently pocket $40 million for the influencer and $20 million for the ex-terror of the ring.
I watched the first of three parts of the documentary on Netflix and stopped there, lost interest. I watched the last press conference where Jake Paul kept defending his legitimacy and Tyson seemed bored to death and answered questions in half-syllables.
On the other hand, there were a lot of people, including media representatives from all over the world.
I will still watch this evening with great interest even if I am convinced that the action was well scripted by the greatest scriptwriters worthy of Vince McMahon. Expectations just have to correspond to reality and not to what they claim to present to us.
Those expecting a real fight where both will try to knock each other out will be disappointed. We won’t do that to the almost sixty-year-old, we certainly won’t want to humiliate him. Nostalgic people who think that despite his age, the former student of Cus Damato could stamp out his young rival do not realize the importance of the influence of time on human capacities in terms of reflexes and especially on the ability to absorb a blow. fist.
For an exhibition to be interesting, the forces involved must be unequal and here it is Jake Paul, despite everything I have written about him here, who has the skill to balance the heat. So my prediction is that both finalists will do their best to put on a good show but no one will get hurt.
A GREAT TRIBUNE FOR TAYLOR AND SERRANO
There’s another big reason to tune into Netflix tonight, and that’s the real mega-fight between unified welterweight champion Katie Taylor (23-1, 6 KOs) of Ireland, who will defend her belts against the unified featherweight champion, Puerto Rican Amanda Serrano (47-2-1, 31 KOs).
It is a rematch of one of the best, if not the best, women’s boxing fights in history which took place on April 30, 2022 in a Madison Square Garden in New York almost completely filled, 19,000 spectators in live on DAZN. For the first time in history, two women deserved grants of 1 million.
It was the unified lightweight title that was at stake at that moment and Serrano won on points in 10 rounds, a split decision that earned a standing ovation as people enjoyed the spectacle.
This time, Taylor will receive $6 million to defend her belts and $10 million for Serrano, a protégé of Jake Paul.
The Puerto Rican will have to give up 16 pounds of her usual fighting weight to the Irishwoman, which is not without importance.
We expect another titanic clash between these two great ladies which alone merits interest in this event. For my prediction, I have a feeling Serrano will realize there is a big difference between 140 and 126 pounds and I believe Taylor will win by decision.
GILBERTO RAMIREZ AGAINST CHRIS BILLAM-SMITH AT “LATINO NIGHT” OF “RIYAD SEASONS”
On the other side of the world, Saturday evening, Turki Alalshikh from Saisons Riyad presents “Latino Night” in collaboration with Golden Boy and Oscar De La Hoya.
This promotion was completely overshadowed by the enormous publicity surrounding the gala the day before in Texas. It is also the least interesting of the events in the brilliant series in Saudi Arabia. However, the advantage is that you don’t need to pay to buy it if you subscribe to DAZN.
Of the six fights on offer, there are two really competitive ones that deserve our attention. The Mexican Gilberto Ramirez (46-1, 30 KOs), WBA light heavyweight champion, will try to unify against the Briton Chris Billam Smith (20-1, 13 KOs), WBO champion .
I was never a fan of Ramirez, even when he was WBO super middleweight champion. He’s good but it always seemed to me that he lacked a spark to ignite my emotions.
Billam-Smith is less known but he impressed me by causing a surprise by dethroning Lawrence Okolie in May 2023. (20-1, 14 KOs).
There will be no knockout. here and I’m going for a close victory for the Englishman on points.
The other fight that attracts me is that of former WBC and WBO super-lightweight world champion Jose Carlos Ramirez (29-1, 18 KOs) against the undefeated Arnold Barboza Jr. (30 -0, 11 KO), two Americans with Mexican names to respect the theme of the evening.
Barboza Jr. is an efficient boxer, brilliant in the ring, excellent in defense. Ramirez is dynamite always ready to explode. His best performances came at home in Fresno, California, as he filled Save Mart Arena with noisy, committed fans. It was there that he had his greatest successes.
I have the impression that Ramirez will miss the support of his public, him who boxes with his guts and his emotions. I hope I’m wrong, Ramirez is an asset to the industry with his charisma and popularity, but I fear that he will be a little misrepresented in the Saudi environment in front of spectators more interested in showing off than participating emotionally in the fights. Barbosa by decision here.
Happy boxing and see you next week.