When Jake Paul made his professional debut in January 2020, if you told any boxing purist that a Katie Taylor undisputed title defense would eventually play chief support to the influencer’s bout with 58-year-old Mike Tyson, they probably would have laughed in your face.
Some might have wanted to spit in it.
Taylor, a beacon of Irish sporting brilliance, an athlete with seemingly more firsts that Usain Bolt — the first boxer to compete in a sanctioned women’s bout in Ireland, the first female boxer to headline an event at Madison Square Garden, the first female boxer to earn a $1 million payday — represents the polar opposite of what Tyson vs. Paul has become. Before turning pro in 2016, the decorated amateur blazed a trail so bright she helped persuade the International Olympic Committee to allow women’s boxing to be included in the 2012 London Games. She was the flag bearer for the Irish in the English capital before capturing an Olympic gold, a moment that effectively shut down Ireland.
In her native country, there is seemingly no great polarizing opinions on the Bray boxer. She is unanimously revered for her achievements, all of which presents a curious juxtaposition for her highly anticipated rematch with Amanda Serrano, which takes place at an event fueled by a controversial headlining pairing to the point that it’s been described as a circus.
One of Ireland’s leading boxing journalists, Gavan Casey of the42.ie, traveled to Texas for Taylor vs. Serrano II — and by extension, Tyson vs. Paul — knowing it will be unlike any other event he’s covered.
“The most unusual part of it is going into it knowing that you’re going to have to deal with the superfluous circus that is the main event,” Casey told Uncrowned.
“From my point of view, I’ve always dealt with the Taylor vs. Serrano fight in isolation as a pure sporting contest that I’ve eagerly anticipated since their first one in April 2022. Do I think that it’s a shame that it’s taking place on this sports-entertainment event? To a degree, yes, because it deserves to stand alone. But with the money that both women are making and with the opportunity to fight on Netflix, which will reach a way larger audience that a traditional boxing card, I see how it makes sense to them.”
To Casey’s point, the first meeting between Taylor and Serrano — the first women’s bout to headline Madison Square Garden — was a high water mark for women’s boxing. Adding their rematch to this card has brought legitimacy to it and subsequently forced the eyes of the boxing world on something the vast majority of the community considers a freak show.
Contradiction
For Kieran Cunningham, chief sportswriter for Irish Mirror and the creator of the podcast series “Untouchable: How Katie Taylor Changed the World,” it is not simply the age difference between Paul and Tyson that makes Taylor’s involvement uncomfortable.
While he agrees that Taylor is not an influencer, he knows that she is influential and sees a contradiction in the claims that Tyson vs. Paul is a big moment for the women’s sport.
“I believe 100 percent what Katie Taylor has to say, and she talks a lot about being a role model for young girls and women,” Cunningham said. “She wants to break new ground and she does see that position of a role model as important. I think she doesn’t see the contradiction, then, when Mike Tyson is fighting on the same card as her, who is a convicted rapist.
“I think because she is a role model and sees herself as a role model, I think she should be more conscious of the people that she associates herself with.”
Cunningham vehemently criticized Conor McGregor’s involvement in Taylor’s career too, particularly ahead of her second meeting with Chantelle Cameron in Dublin. Cunningham, like many Irish, believed the UFC star provoked a fraught situation with his social media posts at the time of the Dublin riots, two days before Taylor and Cameron traded leather for a second time.
As far as Casey is concerned, the business of the sweet science has always been dirty, and if Taylor took an ethical high ground throughout her career, it would have significantly reduced her imprint on the sport.
“If she was to take a moral stance on various figures involved in her boxing cards throughout her career, she wouldn’t have a career,” said Casey. “If she was to pull out of her homecoming fight with Chantelle Cameron because Conor McGregor was sponsoring it, she would be chopping off a huge part of her legacy.
“Is it contradictory to say this is bad for women’s boxing because it’s on this show? You could definitely make that case.
“But say if you’re one of the 280 million Netflix subscribers around the world, and you tune into this an hour before the main event, and you watch what will probably be a brilliant fight between two of the most gifted women to ever lace up a pair of gloves, does that not potentially change your perception of female boxing when you see two legitimately brilliant female athletes go at it?”
Audience
Netflix getting involved in combat sports is one of the key talking points ahead of Friday’s event.
It’s evident why the streaming giant was enthusiastic about becoming a broadcast partner, considering the various demographics it will hit with the broadcast. As well as the younger audience Paul brings to the fore, Tyson will capture the attention of the older generation who recall “Iron Mike” in his pomp. As for the hardcore boxing fans who detest the idea of the main event, they will almost definitely be intrigued by the Taylor-Serrano rematch.
Cunningham believes the vast majority will be tuning in for one or the other, as opposed to both:
“We probably won’t see the numbers, but I think there will be a lot of people who only watch the Tyson fight and there will also be a significant number that only watch Taylor-Serrano and switch off after that,” he said.
“For a lot of the people, the spectacle is Tyson, but for the real boxing fans it’s Taylor vs. Serrano. A lot of boxing fans think the main fight is a circus and don’t want to have anything to do with it, but I think a fair amount will continue to watch out of curiosity.”
Just two weeks ago, the sports world celebrated the 50th anniversary of The Rumble in the Jungle.
There were endless videos of Muhammad Ali swearing he would defeat the immovable George Foreman, constant reminders of how little hope anyone had in the icon’s victory that night, and, of course, heaps of praise for the infamous rope-a-dope tactic he employed to stop his counterpart in the eighth round. You had to look far deeper to find commentary on how the fight took place in Zaire, which at the time was ruled by African dictator Mobutu.
When all is said and done, Casey believes few will remember that Taylor and Serrano took place on the same card as Paul vs. Tyson.
“Two boxers will be remembered for what happened in the ring, ultimately,” he said.
“Taylor and Serrano’s legacies will be determined by the unbelievable memories they provided within the 20 minutes that they were actually engaged in combat in the ring, and this is another opportunity for them to do that. In 30 years time, what will matter really is if there is a green or red sign on their BoxRec records, and there will be the YouTube highlights of what will likely be another classic fight. I really don’t think people will look back and wish that it hadn’t taken place on the Tyson vs. Jake Paul card.”
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