By: Sean Crose
Netflix has to be happy with the numbers it sees for last Friday night’s Jake Paul – Anthony Joshua fight. The bout reportedly brought in a whopping 33 million viewers. Considering that some pay-per-view cards over the past decade have arguably brought in less than $200,000 viewers, that’s saying a whole lot. Word had been out that Paul- Joshua wasn’t bringing the buzz that it was supposed to. Apparently people were keeping their thoughts to themselves because when the opening bell rang Friday night in Miami many people were tuned in.
Paul stepped out of the ring with a broken jaw in two places. Indeed he suffered quite a beating at the hands of Joshua. In truth, he could have received a lot worse. In a strange way. It was the fight the public expected. Few if any thought that Paul would pull off the upset, but the brash American’s promotional style brought in the curious or even those who wanted to see the “bad guy” get a beating. And while Paul certainly got that, there’s been a bit of excessive criticism regarding Paul’s style in the fight, which wasn’t much of a style at all. What was he expected to do though? Former world heavyweight titlist Joshua was much taller, stronger and likely faster than he was. Aside from trying to frustrate his man by avoiding him, Paul was pretty much out of options.
What’s more, the Cincinnati native showed guts by not stopping until he was counted out by the referee. There was no quitting on a stool Friday night. Paul hung in there until the very end. And while people are criticizing Joshua for looking rusty, the man did fine against an opponent who was clearly avoiding getting hit. It’s not easy chasing an opponent around a ring after all but Joshua was able to pressure Paul to the point where Paul had no more energy. After that it was all downhill for the fighter known as “The Problem Child .” Joshua, as expected had laid his man out.
Although Friday didn’t have the biggest numbers for a Netflix hosted boxing match, 33 million remains a very successful viewership gauge. While Jake Paul’s fight with Mike Tyson brought in 100 million viewers and this past falls’ Canelo Alvarez – Terence Crawford fight brought in a bit more, too, Paul- Joshua makes it clear that fans are willing to tune into the big fights so long as they’re presented for free, and pique the public’s interest. The question now is whether or not Netflix wants to be a major player in the fight game.
