Mike Tyson has many claims to fame. He exaggerated his most recent one, but not by as much as one might expect.
Tyson called out critics of his upcoming fight with Jake Paul, calling detractors “jealous” in an interview with Reuters that made the rounds on social media on Wednesday.
There has been a wide range of criticism of the bout, which will see the 58-year-old legend take on the 27-year-old social media star-turned-boxer on July 20 in Arlington, Texas, on Netflix.
Many claim they’re worried about Tyson’s fitness to compete at his age and against a man 31 years his junior. In the interview, Tyson asks if the doubters are “worried or jealous.”
“I’m 58 and what?,” Tyson said. “I’m getting billions of views from just talking to somebody about fighting.”
Billions of views feel like the grandest example of capping in 2024, but a further examination of Tyson’s social media profile suggests the number is only a mild exaggeration, or perhaps a feasible projection of where he’ll be by the time the fight rolls around.
For specifics, I turned to a strategist at ListenFirst, a social media listening firm.
Iron Mike is pacing to eclipse the number of views he mentioned in his interview with Reuters.
The fight was announced on March 7.
Since the announcement, Tyson has posted about the fight with Paul 30 times across his TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, and YouTube channels.
According to ListenFirst, Tyson’s TikTok posts (5) were the most impactful, earning 20 million engagements. His Instagram posts (6) earned the most views–309.9 million, which accounts for 46% of his total in that category.
That total includes Tyson’s most-viewed post. This reel, which earned 112 million views, showcases the fighter’s “day four” training exercises.
Tyson’s posts earned 38.4 million engagements and 670.6 million views.
Yes, that’s about 330 million views short of a billion, but there are about 14 weeks left before Tyson and Paul clash in Texas.
In 27 days of hype, Tyson has generated 670 million views.
That’s an average of almost 25 million views per day. At that pace, Tyson will have accumulated 2.4 billion views on top of the 670 million he has already amassed.
Call it what you like, but just as former UFC champion and Paul opponent Tyron Woodley told me, the fight will draw and seemingly make a ton of money.
