Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul is the pinnacle of content disguised as sports | Boxing

MArk Borkowski is the PR maestro who has worked with everyone from Mikhail Gorbachev to Diego Maradona to Jim Rose, an American exhibitionist who hung weights from his penis. Borkowski also helped Ian Botham recreate Hannibal's trek across the Alps with elephants and, for his sins, was the brains behind Cliff Richard's “Savior's Day”, which made Christmas's No. 1 spot despite minimal listening. So who better to talk about the biggest sports stunt of the year, Mike Tyson's fight against Jake Paul, streaming to 300 million viewers on Netflix this weekend?

Instinctively, as I told Borkowski, I hate the idea. Most boxing fans do. It sells a myth that wasn't even close to reality in 2004, let alone 2024: namely, that Tyson is one of the world's fiercest warriors, not a 58-year-old who lost 26 pounds in May after an ulcer flare-up . This caused him to vomit blood and pass tar. It jeopardizes Tyson's boxing reputation and his health. And aside from Netflix's lavish advertising, it seems more like a farce or circus than a real sporting event.

But I could be wrong. Borkowksi certainly thinks so. He believes the fight is straight from the script of PT Barnum, the greatest showman of all and curator of the absurd and extraordinary, who instinctively knew what the public wanted long before they did. And that it will reach the masses.

“Barnum knew how to engage the crowd – the great herd, the great unwashed,” he says. “This fight is about opportunism. It's about creative thinking. And it already creates the oxygen of publicity, which is always a sign that something is going to be very successful.”

As Borkowski points out, it taps into two big markets: Boomers and Generation Xers who grew up watching Tyson, as well as the younger generations who adore Jake Paul, many of whom want to watch.

“Many people, especially boys, project themselves into male influencers like Paul,” he says. “In a way, they're their best friends – whether it's watching them play Call of Duty or watching the Jackass-influenced generation of pranksters do outrageous things on social media. So they'll watch that. And that goes for those who grew up watching Tyson in his prime, too. Although purists may laugh at this, there is a market for it. And Netflix knows it.”

But it's not just sports, is it? Borkowski doesn't object. But he's not sure it matters as long as the fight – in the early hours of Saturday morning UK time – somehow works. “The root of this fight is absolutely World Wrestling Entertainment,” he says. “It’s a mix of sports and entertainment. You get the feeling that some of it is staged. Will someone be seriously injured? I doubt it since they wear 14 ounce gloves. So it’s more WWE than WBA.”

He then gives the ultimate confirmation. “I would be very happy if I could think of something like that,” he says.

Borkowski isn't the only one who believes Netflix is ​​on the winning side. Adam Kelly, media president of global sports rights agency IMG, sees it similarly. And having worked closely with the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Al Haymon to promote and direct Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor in 2017, he sees similar crossover appeal in Tyson vs. Paul.

Kelly's starting point is that in a world where TV ratings are declining, sports are bucking the trend with record ratings for the NFL, the Olympics, the European Championships and the women's NBA. As a result, media and technology giants like Netflix and Amazon are increasingly focusing on live sports, using it to drive subscriptions and sell products. And given their business acumen, would you dare bet against them?

“This fight is much bigger than boxing,” he says. “This is the path and roadmap that will prove to be the model for Netflix when it comes to sports.”

Kelly predicts Tyson vs. Paul will be “one of the biggest fights ever broadcast.” Why? Due to a combination of Netflix's huge subscriber base, its algorithm's ability to drive people to new content, and the intrigue surrounding the fight.

And he has a message for purists who turn their noses up at Mayweather and McGregor and continue to roll their eyes at influencers like Paul in their sport. “These fights have encouraged new fans and led to a new wave of interest in boxing,” he points out. “If boxing only appeals to a hardcore fan base with technical fighting, it will eventually die. Because the audience will age and then die.”

It is a warning that applies to all sports. “You have to constantly strive to grow your audience,” Kelly says. “And that means creating a product that specifically appeals to people who aren’t currently your fans. If you don’t, you’re on a shrinking iceberg.”

I don't disagree. But I still cringe when I hear Netflix promote the Arlington, Texas fight as “the biggest name in social media against the biggest name in boxing,” or when I see Muhammad Ali's former manager Gene Kilroy Tyson recently said: “This is the strongest I’ve ever seen.” This isn’t just blatant hype. It's deluded nonsense.

It reminds me of the old saying, often misattributed to Barnum, that an idiot is born every minute. Barnum is also said to have said, “Every crowd has a silver lining,” which seems somewhat appropriate given this troubled spectacle.

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