When the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight was announced, there was no shortage of criticism for the crossover event that will feature opponents with a 31-year age gap.
Don’t count former UFC champion and Paul opponent Tyron Woodley amongst the crowd of detractors for the polarizing fight.
I spoke with Woodley on Friday, and he echoed some of the sentiments he shared on his podcast Real Shhh…Right Quick.
I feel, and I know that this fight is one that we’re going to watch,” Woodley said via video call from his home. “A lot of people have something negative to say about it, but I guarantee they watch.”
Woodley is likely spot-on with that assessment. In 2020, Tyson squared off with fellow aging boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. in a fight that Paul promoted and featured the former YouTuber in his boxing debut.
The event generated 1.6 million pay-per-view buys. Based on that performance and given Paul’s increased popularity since his debut, it makes sense to project the event will draw at least that amount of PPV buys–if not more.
It’s the sort of event that many will trash on social media, but they will nonetheless be attracted to it. Call it a guilty obsession, but Paul and MVP will count it as a PPV buy and another cha-ching on the proverbial cash register.
How can a novelty fight like this generate so much interest? Woodley has a theory.
“So when you look at what the sport has become, it has become a business,” Woodley continued. “So if you can make people want to watch, now you have something that you’re going to make money. The promoters are going to care more about the fight that brings them in the most money, and the most clicks, buys and views and subscriptions–now that we talking about Netflix being involved. It’s not about putting on the fight that rankings say they should put on, or a fight that is ‘deserving.’ That’s been gone for a very long time. Right now. It’s a big money business.”
That’s a bitter pill for boxing purists who long for the days when the best fighters drew the biggest crowds, not the most popular people–regardless of skills in the sweet science. However, it’s tough to argue as we see a new player in the boxing world like Netflix cinching their wagons to someone like Paul to kick off their plunge into live sports.
Still, is the age gap not a negative? Woodley thinks that’s all a part of the appeal.
“Because of the age and experience difference, because of the just-out-of-the-f######-blue-moon way that this fight even came up,” Woodley insists. “I feel like it’s going to make people interested in watching it. I’m going to watch it too.”
Woodley has been in the ring with Paul on two occasions. He lost a split decision in the first meeting back in August 2021. Four months later they rematched and Woodley lost via one-punch KO.
Woodley has rebounded well from a business standpoint, and he mentioned he is not yet retired from fighting, though he didn’t announce any impending fight plans. Wouldn’t it be something if he somehow finds his way on the July 20 card as part of Netflix’s launch into combat sports?
Keep your eyes open for details on the undercard, which has yet to be announced.
