Jake Paul’s blockbuster boxing match with Mike Tyson broke all manner of records.
While the fight itself has drawn a huge amount of criticism after a 58-year-old Tyson landed only 18 punches across eight two-minute rounds, the interest the event generated can hardly be doubted.
Millions streamed the fight on Netflix, joining the thousands in attendance at the sold-out AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas as ‘The Problem Child’ eased to an 80-72, 79-73, 79-73 unanimous decision victory against the former two-time heavyweight champion of the world.
Paul may not be the most popular among the sport’s purists but represents a potentially huge pay day for fighters looking to go up against him. Since beating Tyson, some of the biggest names in boxing in Artur Beterbiev, Ryan Garcia and Daniel Dubois have called out the crossover YouTube star.
Still, Paul appears to have his eyes on another. Canelo Alvarez, one of boxing’s pound-for-pound kings looks to be in his sights, having called the super-middleweight champion out both before and after the Tyson fight.
Paul wants to determine the “face of boxing” by facing Canelo and believes he is a greater draw than one of the sport’s biggest and most respected names.
Clearly, few would give Paul much of a chance against Canelo, who has lost only two of his 62 professional fights while winning world titles at various weights. Such is Paul’s standing in boxing, the idea of seeing a relative novice pitted against a fighter of Canelo’s stature is unlikely to go down well.
However, the audience for any potential fight between the two is almost certain to be huge.
The gate receipts for Paul’s fight with Tyson made a stunning $18,117,072, more than doubling the previous record for combat sports in Texas – which was ironically set at the same venue by Canelo in his win over Billy Joe Saunders in 2021 ($9m).
“Paul vs. Tyson gate has made $18,117,072 in total revenue, over double the previous Texas gate record for combat sports in both boxing and MMA, obliterating Canelo's record of $9 million,” read a statement from Most Valuable Promotions (MVP).
“Paul vs. Tyson and Taylor vs. Serrano 2 had an average ticket price of $304, marking a 123% increase over the previous AT&T Stadium record held by Canelo Álvarez vs. Billy Joe Saunders, which had an average ticket price of $136.”
