American YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul defeated a 58-year-old Mike Tyson via unanimous decision over the weekend, as nearly 70,000 spectators watched at the AT&T Stadium in Texas. And although the fight was streamed on Netflix, a platform unavailable in the Chinese mainland, it was nevertheless closely watched across the Pacific.

Leading up to the fight, Paul was seen as a clear favorite, given the age gap between the two boxers, as well as the lack of recent in-ring activity from Tyson, who last fought in an exhibition fight against Roy Jones Jr. in November 2020. Paul, meanwhile, had already fought twice this year, with wins against Ryan Bourland and bare-knuckle fighter Mike Perry in February and July, respectively.

An estimated 60 million households tuned into the Paul-Tyson fight, as per Netflix, with the event peaking at 65 million. It is also estimated that 50 million households watched the co-main event between Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor. “The bout is likely to be the most watched professional women’s sporting event in US history,” the streamer said in a statement. The event wasn’t without its problems, however, as users complained about connection issues on the Netflix live stream.    

Despite a lack of direct access to the fight, Chinese netizens tuned in and had their say on the highly anticipated bout between the two stars. On Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, for instance, most of the online reaction appeared to be in support of Tyson, with many users pointing out that he performed impressively, suggesting they may have been fans of Tyson due to his late 1980s prime. Others, meanwhile, said that the former heavyweight champion shouldn’t still be fighting in 2024 considering his age. 

“In the eighth round, Tyson’s speed was still rapid, but he didn’t throw any punches. Paul nearly fell down from exhaustion” said one user on Xiaohongshu. “Sad to see Mike fighting at this age,” commented another. 

On Weibo, some netizens poked fun at Canadian rapper Drake for placing a bet on a Tyson victory and joked that this was why the Boxing Hall of Famer lost to the 27-year-old. The rapper has previously placed a number of bets on major sporting events that he’s subsequently gone on to lose money from.   

In Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China where Netflix is available, the fight card remains in the streaming platform’s top 10, as of Tuesday morning.

Banner image via Jake Paul on Instagram.