Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul Has Me Rethinking My Netflix Membership

As far as my monthly budget is concerned, Netflix was already barely hanging on. I watch other streaming services a lot more and, at times, almost completely forget I even have it. Last night's livestream of Mike Tyson facing Youtuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul isn't the final nail in that coffin, but it certainly closed the lid.

I'm not even sure where to start. Perhaps it should be the pixilated feed that made me check my internet connection multiple times before learning I wasn't the only one experiencing it. Or maybe it should be the hour or so of buffering we endured as Netflix tried to keep up with demand. I could even spend some time on the various technical gaffes throughout the show, including a microphone malfunction that interrupted an Evander Holyfield interview.

Oh, I know. I'll just talk about the main event that made none of the above worth it.

Look, it wasn't as though I had high expectations for the match. Tyson is just a couple years shy of 60 and hadn't fought in a sanctioned match in nearly 20 years. While there was some hope for a Rocky Balboa-like outcome, I knew it wasn't really a question of if the much-younger Paul would win as much as how.

The problem was, we'll never really know. That wasn't a boxing match between the two men. That was, at best, an exhibition and, at worst, fraud. Tyson spent most of the match dancing around, just trying to make it to the end while Paul did the bare minimum to win by decision. Basically, enough for him to claim he beat Iron Mike Tyson without hurting the legend (who, in my opinion, seemed like he didn't even know where he was after the fight).

How boring was this match? The announcers had time to discuss (argue over) whether Tyson was having troubles with his mouthpiece or if he had a habit of biting his gloves. No joke, I was kind of hoping that would result in a fight because it would have been more entertaining.

The most disappointing thing about all of this is if it weren't for the technical issues and the snoozer of a main event, this might have been a legitimately good show. The undercard fights were legitimately entertaining, especially the match between Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor that was fast-paced, bloody and controversial. Those fights should be what people are talking about, not all the other things.

I just hope Netflix does better when they livestream NFL games next month or they could potentially see subscribers leaving in droves.