The highly anticipated Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua fight attracted massive viewership and shattered ticket sales records, yet it didn’t claim the title of the biggest fight of the year. Earlier in September, the undisputed super middleweight title bout between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas drew an impressive audience of 41.1 million viewers. While Paul vs. Joshua came close, Netflix officially reported 33 million viewers for their event.
Despite falling short of being the year’s largest fight, the Paul vs. Joshua bout sparked significant global social media buzz and set a new gate revenue record at Miami’s Caseya Center. However, some view the event as underwhelming given the substantial eight-figure paydays the fighters earned after months of preparation.
Netflix and Most Valuable Promotions revealed that the main fight averaged 33 million viewers worldwide within its first day, while the co-main event between Alicia Baumgardner and Layla Beaudoin attracted 15 million viewers. The fight ranked in Netflix’s top 10 in 91 countries and held the #1 spot in 45 nations, including key markets like the US, UK, Canada, Germany, Australia, Mexico, and Argentina—surpassing the global reach of Canelo vs. Crawford by 15 countries.
Originally, Paul was set to face Gervonta Davis in an exhibition match at the same venue in November, but after that plan fell through, Most Valuable Promotions quickly arranged the new event with only four weeks to promote it. Although Joshua enjoys global stardom, his UK ring entrance happened at 3 a.m. due to time differences, and he has not fought in the US since his 2019 loss to Andy Ruiz Jr., having mostly competed in the UK and Saudi Arabia.
Ticket sales concerns were alleviated as the event broke the record for the highest grossing show in Caseya Center history. As expected, two-time heavyweight champion Joshua knocked out social media sensation and former cruiserweight Paul within six rounds. Paul, however, won praise for surpassing the performances of fighters like Francis Ngannou and Charles Martin.
One of the event’s viral highlights was a slow-motion clip of Joshua’s knockout punch, which generated over 214 million impressions on Netflix’s social media—making it the best-performing Netflix live event ever.
Fan Take: This fight underscores the growing crossover appeal between traditional boxing and influencer-driven matchups, drawing fresh audiences to the sport. While Joshua’s victory reaffirms the dominance of seasoned pros, Paul’s rising profile could signal a new era of entertainment-infused boxing that expands boxing’s reach globally.
