Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua fight sets a shocking record for Netflix

After so much hype, it feels like the Jake Paul versus Anthony Joshua fight was over before it began.

Still, with the YouTube megastar lasting six rounds before he was knocked out by the former two-time heavyweight champion, at least Paul stood his ground.

From the relatively humble roots of his YouTube channel, Paul has been carving out a lucrative boxing career since 2018. Joshua marks only his second loss, and with 12 wins under his belt, he's proved he's not one to be messed with.

There's also a lucrative partnership with Netflix, as both the boxers and the streaming giant take home a hefty paycheck.

With Paul and Joshua said to have earned a jaw-dropping (or should that be jaw-breaking) $93,000 for every second they were in the ring, let's hope it was worth it for Netflix.

The pair is currently suspended from fighting due to stipulations from the Florida Athletic Commission, although both are looking ahead to their next fights and what could be another million-dollar rumble in the ring.

Sadly, it sounds like the latest bout was a bit of a swing and a miss for Netflix. While still nothing to be scoffed at, it's reported that Quadzilla versus The Problem Child only pulled in 33 million viewers.

While Netflix used to be cagey with its viewing figures, it's confirmed that 33 million of you tuned in to watch Joshua best the smart-talking Paul, meaning it was less than half the reported 108 million who watched the latter take on Mike Tyson in November 2024.

Netflix still seems happy with the result, noting that Joshua vs. Paul topped the charts in 45 countries, including the USA, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia, Mexico, and Argentina. As reported by ESPN, commercial streaming service Everpass estimates that a further 600,000 viewers watched the fight at commercial properties.

This is Netflix's second big fight of 2025, but again, it fell short of September's boxing match between Canelo Álvarez and Terence Crawford. That particular punch-up nabbed 41.5 million viewers, although both of these were dwarfed when "Iron Mike" took on Paul.

That iconic match at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, peaked with 65 million concurrent streams around the world and proved to be the most-streamed sporting event of all time. In the US alone, Paul vs. Tyson had 38 million concurrent streams for a global total of 108 million viewers.

Elsewhere, the women haven't fared as well. Despite rounding off a vengeful trilogy of fights, July 11's Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano took place at Madison Square Garden and landed just six million viewers.

Discussing his defeat and why he thinks he lost, Paul told the Impaulsive podcast: "Actually, I won two rounds, then he won two, then I got dropped. But yeah, I was doing good. I just think my cardio, the mental pressure of the big guy, and sparring the big people, is different from the ten-ounce gloves...

"It was just mental. It was just like him imposing his will on me, and being massive, and the big shots landing. Then, yeah, it pretty much all goes downhill from there."

Could there be an eventual rematch on the cards for Joshua and Paul? With Jake already looking for his next opponent and some calling for him to settle the score with Tommy Fury, it's easy to imagine him and Joshua eventually knocking gloves once again.