'Record breaking' 60m homes watched Tyson vs Paul fight, Netflix says

Netflix says 60 million households worldwide tuned in live to see Mike Tyson take on Jake Paul, in the streaming giant's first foray into live boxing.

The event, which was free for subscribers, is being hailed by the tech giant as a "record breaking night".

However, fans hoping to watch have expressed their anger and disappointment after some reported Netflix crashed repeatedly throughout the fight.

But there was also criticism from those who were able to tune in, with many saying they found the boxing match lacklustre.

In the bout, which took place at the AT&T Stadium in Texas, former world heavyweight champion Tyson, 58, was beaten by YouTuber-turned-fighter Paul, 27.

The fight attracted a huge amount of media coverage. Tyson is one of the most famous boxers on the planet, while Paul drew in a younger audience.

There was a star-studded ringside audience including Charlize Theron, Ralph Macchio, Joe Jonas and Hasan Minhaj.

Paul says 120 million viewers watched it live globally on Netflix, while the tech firm later stated "60 million households" around the world tuned in. It said it will reveal further viewing figures early next week.

But some viewers reported experiencing buffering issues on the site, and some said they simply couldn't get onto it.

The fight was "unwatchable," wrote one X . Another said she was "furious", while a third complained he "did an all-nighter for nothing".

Netflix declined to comment on the technical glitches.

Brendan Ashford, who lives in Devon, told BBC News he stayed up late to watch the fight, which took place in the early hours of Saturday morning UK time.

"I was interested to see how Mike Tyson, at 58, would perform against a much younger guy," he said.

"I'm not in the habit of staying up late, but I thought it was worth it."

He tried g in on Netflix at around 04:00 GMT, and says initially it loaded 25%, and then it got to 75%, but after that it got stuck.

"I knew I had a good connection, so then I looked on social media and saw others were also experiencing issues," he said.

"It was really disappointing. I kept trying for a good hour before I gave up."

Mr Ashford said it made him wonder how Netflix would fare with future live sports events, given the problems people encountered this time.

"It can't be good for their reputation," he said.

On social media, there was a similar reaction from fans, who vented their frustrations.

Many also posted pictures and videos of the fight failing to load, while some said the service failed at the key moments during the event.

"Had all my friends over to watch the Tyson vs. Paul fight. Not loading," wrote one X .

"Shame on Netflix for not being able to handle the streaming of the Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul fight," wrote another.

"The lagging is so bad the fights are unwatchable to long time subscribers like me and other people I know at home with friends, family, snacks, and drinks but no fights."

Another person simply asked, "did Netflix not have enough time to prepare for the Tyson / Paul fight":[]}