Friday’s Netflix-streamed boxing show from Madison Square Garden is the silver lining from a very dark and gloomy day for the sweet science.
When the Texas commission decided to license the 58-year-old Mike Tyson to fight Jake Paul this past November, a man 31 years Tyson’s junior, they were playing with fire — and only narrowly avoided getting burned. No reputable commission should’ve allowed a 58-year-old man who was clearly miles past his best two decades ago — when he was knocked out by Danny Williams in 2004 — to still be fighting. Especially not one who suffered an ulcer flare-up in the build to the original Paul fight date.
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Tyson vs. Paul was a car-crash event — and as is very much the case with crashes, people turned out in numbers to watch it happen. A peak audience of 65 million tuned in to the farce fight on Netflix. Yet while the main event played out as an expectedly unsavory watch, the overall show still had its benefits for the sport and the fighters on the undercard. WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios used his win over Abel Ramos as a launching pad into a money-spinning showdown with the legendary seven-division world champion Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao vs. Barrios will be a major commercial summer event for boxing in the United States on July 19, even if it’s another controversial fight.
It was the co-feature from that November carnival, however, that left the truest imprint on the sport. Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano’s rematch for the undisputed lightweight championship was so good that Netflix cameras will be heading back to New York’s fabled Madison Square Garden on Friday for the trilogy bout. The Irishwoman and Puerto Rican already made history in 2022 when their first fight became the first women’s headliner at the world’s most famous arena. It was an electric atmosphere around Madison Square Garden that night, with a Fight of the Year contender to match inside of the ring.
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On Friday, Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) not only brings Taylor vs. Serrano 3 to Netflix — it also goes all-in on the women’s side of the sport with a stacked all-women undercard. The show features three undisputed championship bouts, two unification fights and an interim title clash — a total of 17 world titles contested on one night, breaking the record for the most on a single card.
Outside of the monstrous Sept. 13 battle between pound-for-pound greats Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Terence Crawford, it is highly likely that Taylor vs. Serrano 3 will be the most-watched boxing event in the United States in 2025 because it is on the widely-accessible Netflix platform. Friday’s show will play a big part in women’s boxing’s journey to match the men’s side of the sport on a commercial level.
Friday’s Netflix card represent a historic moment for women’s boxing.
(Sarah Stier via Getty Images)
This past week, Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn — once the biggest player in women’s boxing — went on record to say that Matchroom is, at the moment, no longer looking at signing female fighters. Turki Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season/Ring Magazine cards have come with a noticeable lack of women’s fights, which leaves less incentive for promoters to invest in that side of the sport. At a time when women’s boxing appears to be on the decline, MVP has stepped up to deliver slots for fighters on huge platforms with bigger purses.
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A multi-million person audience will soon tune in to see budding stars like Alycia Baumgardner, Chantelle Cameron, Savannah Marshall and Ellie Scotney attempt to stand out — and stake their claim as the heiress to Taylor’s throne as the biggest draw in women’s boxing.
Without the Tyson vs. Paul farce, Netflix may never have been exposed to the brilliance of two future Hall of Famers, and women’s boxing may not be getting the platform it deserves to be getting Friday.
In the shadow of a circus, that is the real winner.
