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SPECIAL COLLABORATION
I really enjoyed my evening last Friday during the grandiose show on Netflix with the highlight of the evening being the 8 exhibition rounds between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul.
I know, the Texas Athletic Commission sanctioned it and many are offended. The judges made an official decision and Tyson (50-7, 44 KOs) officially recorded a 7th defeat.
When I say that it was an exhibition, I in no way imply that there was any malfeasance on the part of the American management, even if the fact of giving the blessing to the fight is questionable. What I’m implying is that Jake Paul (11-1, 7 KOs) promised Iron Mike he wouldn’t hurt him and wouldn’t humiliate him. He kept his word. The judges simply noted what they saw in the ring and without much effort, Paul won the last 6 rounds.
The sporting success of the evening is undeniable. The draw between WBC welterweight champion Mario Barios (29-2-1, 18 KOs) and Abel Ramos (28-6-3, 22 KOs) where the two belligerents visited the floor in turn was interesting.
What can we say about the 10 fantastic rounds that these two great ladies, Katie Taylor (24-1, 6 KOs) and Amanda Serrano (47-3-1, 31 KOs), engaged in where both really came out winners even if we had to decide, 3 scores of 95-94 for the Irishwoman, who retained her super-lightweight belts by obtaining a second victory over the Puerto Rican.
Brilliantly passed test for Netflix
For Netflixthis gala was a test and the success was well beyond the expectations of the digital distribution giant, despite the few bandwidth failures. It is a safe bet that this situation will be corrected quickly.
The Taylor-Serrano fight was the most watched broadcast of a professional sporting event in history for all sports, among women with 74 million listeners.
For the main clash, there would have been 75 million subscriber accounts for an estimated global audience of 125 million listeners. By comparison, ESPN will seek an audience of less than 1 million on average for boxing, between 2 and 3 million for an excellent fight and up to 5 million for a great fight.
It must be said that when a confrontation is in high demand, fans must pay sums of between $20 and $100 to buy it à la carte, which enormously limits its scope.
It was Muhammad Ali’s duel against Leon Spinks at the New Orleans Superdome on September 15, 1978, which set the world record for the most people who watched it live. On ABC, there were 90 million households with their eyes glued to the little square box. It is even claimed that there were 2 billion across the world. Ali had to win and conquer the world heavyweight title for the 3rd time.
By carrying out a quick calculation, it is a bill of more than 60 million that Netflix had to cover in order to present this great show, which represents a little more than half of the entire budget ofESPN And ESPN+ which present around a hundred boxing galas per year.
Netflix has the capacity and means to revolutionize boxing, just like HBO did so starting in 1973, an experiment that lasted until 2018. HBO kicked off by previewing the fight that saw George Foreman dethrone Joe Frazier for the WBC and WBA heavyweight titles in Kingston, Jamaica. As Netflix, HBO was a channel dedicated to films and series and they brought a different way of presentation and unparalleled prestige.
For what Netflix would invest as much money in boxing and in sport in general, he who is already at the top of his category in number of subscribers, 282 million against 230 for the closest rival Amazon Prime Video? Quite simply to stay at the top. There are so many competitions that you have to constantly renew yourself and be creative.
This is the reason why Netflix will present its first NFL football games on Christmas Day, the Chiefs vs. Steelers followed by Ravens vs. Texans with Beyonce providing the halftime show. Don’t look for me that day, I’ll be in front of my flat screen with my red number 15 sweater!
I remember a study that said that HBOat the time, was not increasing many subscribers with boxing but that it was the primary reason why customers remained subscribed to HBO.
The equation can easily be applied to Netflix.
In this gala, Netflix brought innovations that will snowball. The electronic signs in the corners and around the ring replacing the printed ones to clearly identify the participants and, at the appropriate time, present advertising, it was great.
As HBO did it in the past with its big stars, we saw Optimus Prime walking around the room like many stars of their films or series which represents a unique product placement.
A marketing genius
I stand by my position, Paul will never be a boxer of the caliber of a true world champion or even a legitimate contender, but his involvement in boxing and his impact have been greater than the majority of great champions and we must give him credit for that. credit, no offense to the purists.
It was he who convinced Tyson and Netflix to embark on this adventure. With his MVP promotion organization, he contracts boxers and organizes galas for them. Since taking Amanda Serrano under his wing, he has taken her to heights unthinkable not long ago.
It was he who had the idea of renting Madison Square Garden for the first fight between his protégé and Taylor and it was thanks to his promotion that we had a full house.
In my opinion, his greatest achievement is having attracted the attention and interest of legitimate boxers and receiving official challenges through the voice of social networks. Honestly, I never thought it was possible.
Before last Friday, he was the one who was launching challenges to get people talking about him. Since then, we have seen Daniel Dubois, IBF heavyweight champion, invite him to face him. Artur Beterbiev, the unified light heavyweight champion, did the same thing as did Andre Ward, Carl Froch and Tony Bellew who are ready to come out of retirement.
I can also assure you that none of them will receive a call, but these invitations are extremely flattering for the actor and will help to grow his notoriety, his legend.
With this success, we must expect that the association agreement between Netflix and Paul and the plans for the next step are already in motion.
It’s UFC big star, Irishman Connor McGregor, who is reportedly being targeted to be Paul’s next antagonist in the ring next spring. We are plotting at the same time to complete the trilogy between the two champions Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano. Their all-offensive styles and their ability to endure combine perfectly for nuclear dump fights, like those of Gatti against Ward.
There are dreams of bringing the promotion to Ireland to fill a stadium with 90,000 spectators, but I think it is more likely that the Las Vegas Sphere would be the host. UFC 306 was presented there with great success, collecting revenues of 22 million at the box office. At AT&T Stadium, the 72,000 spectators generated revenue of 18 million last Friday.
Finally, I know that this will not please many die-hard fans of traditional boxing like my good friends Russ Anber and Bernard Barré, for whom I have the greatest respect, but these events help boxing in general gain great exposure in front of a different and numerous clientele, a younger demographic which helps to promote interest and popularity.
We must see behind the cosmetics that the influencer brings the real impacts on the industry and its participants. And if through this Paul wants to have fun with grandfathers, we just have to not take it as a personal offense.
The Angel of the ring is no more
We learned of the death of Donato Paduano (43-10-2, 15 KOs) this week, but the news went almost unnoticed. However, he was a very, very big star of his time and numerous frontispiece pages of newspapers of the time confirm this.
There are few boxers from here who have been as adored as him. Those who have not experienced this era cannot even imagine. The Angel of the Ring was one of the most popular athletes of his generation, behind Maurice Richard, Jean Béliveau and Yvon Robert, certainly, but ahead of the vast majority of Canadian players who collected Stanley Cups in industrial quantities.
At each of his releases, all the artistic elite or public figures from our region wanted to participate. If you weren’t invited, you weren’t trendy. The fact that he was married to Linda Ouimet, the cousin of the famous actress Danielle Ouimet, one of his biggest admirers, added to the pugilist’s aura of notoriety.
His professional career spanned from 1968 to 1980, but his most prolific period began with his victory at Madison Square Garden in New York against Marcel Cerdan fils on May 11, 1970, until his defeat at the Montreal Forum against Former middleweight world champion Emile Griffith on December 10, 1974.
After his victory against Cerdan, all hopes were high that they would become the third world champion in the history of boxing in Quebec, the first since Lou Brouillard 37 years earlier in 1933. After the defeat against Griffith all dreams and illusions had dissipated.
Before entering boxing, he had an excellent amateur career with a gold medal at the New York Golden Gloves at 160 pounds in 1968. He represented Canada at the Commonwealth Games in 1966, winning a medal bronze at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg in 1967. He obtained a victory in his first fight at the Olympic Games in Mexico before losing to an Argentinian.
When he moved to the professionals, he had a well-stocked background and was ready for his new career, through this ideal path, still today, but extremely rare at the time.
There were a lot of good boxers in Quebec during this period that Donato really dominated while filling the Paul-Sauvé Center or the Montreal Forum. His main local opponents were Joey Durelle (2-0), Fernand Marcotte (1-0-1), Reynal Cantin (1-1) and Jean-Claude LeClair (1-0) for a cumulative record of (5- 1-1). He avenged his defeat and his null verdict.
But his ambitions were not to dominate Quebec, like today’s boxers he hoped for a great international career, which is why he was brought to New York 9 times during the first 2 years of his career. The phone will stop ringing after his 2nd consecutive defeat at MSG against Danny McAloon in July 1971.
Paduano was a great technician with quick hands and excellent ring intelligence. His defense was reliable and his chin strong. Only once in 10 defeats has he lost before the limit. He probably lacked the explosion in his punches that would have propelled him into the international elite.
I have seen him box many times and had the privilege of meeting him a few times. He was a shy, humble and endearing man. After his career, he refused the vast majority of invitations and was hardly seen publicly anymore.
He was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Panthéon des sports du Québec in 2000.
He died last Tuesday, November 19, at the age of 75. My most cordial sympathies to his friends, his family and more particularly to his 3 sons Danny, Yannick and Patrick.
Happy boxing and see you next week!