"The biggest boxing fraud in history" - Fans give Netflix a hard time for "60 million" flex after Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight

Netflix has elicited considerable backlash for their assertion about the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match. A number of fans lambasted the U.S.-based streaming giant for the reportedly widespread buffering and streaming issues that prevented many from watching the event and its headlining match live.

YouTuber-cum-boxer Paul defeated former undisputed heavyweight champion Tyson via unanimous decision in the headlining matchup. The fight card featured several other matches as well.

The fights transpired at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, U.S.A., on Nov. 15, 2024. The event was deemed special in multiple aspects. For one, it marked the all-time-great Mike Tyson's first professional boxing match since June 2005 and first boxing match overall since an exhibition in Nov. 2020. Also, it was Netflix's first attempt at live-streaming a boxing event.

The event was free to watch for the platform's subscribers, provided you've paid for a Netflix subscription. This aspect earned the company praise, with fight fans expressing gratitude over not having to pay an additional pay-per-view (PPV) charge.

However, a large section of netizens did take to social media platforms like X to draw attention to the streaming problems they supposedly encountered while watching the event on Netflix. Nevertheless, the multi-billion-dollar company's official X handle has now tweeted the following:

"60 million households around the world tuned in live to watch Paul vs. Tyson! The boxing mega-event dominated social media, shattered records, and even had our buffering systems on the ropes."

Many netizens strongly disapproved of Netflix's apparent celebration of purportedly attracting 60 million viewers for the Paul-Tyson main event matchup, whilst alluding to their buffering and streaming issues. One commenter replied:

"Flexing ur stream buffering? It's a disgrace"

Another fan's tweet made an allusion to the speculation that the stream lagged because of slow internet connections on the users' end. The fan implied that the OTT platform was peddling lies about the same. Many condemned the supposedly low video quality during the broadcast. One observer opined:

"But your server stopped them from watching it"

Some netizens referenced an NSFW image of Mike Tyson being broadcast, while another appeared to jibe at the Paul-Tyson fight and highlighted:

"Ur 'buffering systems' were more of a fight than the actual fight"

One fan seemingly employed sarcasm and wrote:

"Wait... This isn't an apology."

An X user wrote:

"The biggest boxing fraud in history fascinated by Netflix"

The X user then corrected themselves in another tweet, by clarifying they meant "facilitated," not fascinated.

Check out the screenshots of a few tweets below:

Screenshots of tweets

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Netflix hails clash of women's boxing elites that preceded Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson

FOX television stations questioned Netflix about the purported broadcast issues. Apparently, the streaming giant had "nothing to comment on" at that time.

The boxing event, closed out by the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight, also featured a high-profile women's boxing match. Katie Taylor defended her undisputed lightweight throne by securing a unanimous decision victory in her rematch against fellow boxing great Amanda Serrano.

As seen below, the co-headlining match of the event was also referenced by the streaming company's official X handle.

It claimed that "nearly 50 million households" worldwide tuned in to watch the Taylor-Serrano rematch, likely making it the most-watched women's event across all sports in U.S. history.