MR. TITO: Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul on Netflix Was a Reminder that Pro Wrestling is BETTER than Boxing/UFC

Right now around the globe, there are million… And millions of people complaining about the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson “boxing match” on Netflix last night. Excuse me, did I say last night? I meant early morning for us Eastern Timezone folks, as the bout, like ALL top boxing matches, didn’t start until late. Reason why Muhammad Ali was revered is because everyone could watch him before bedtime. If you did stay up for Paul vs. Tyson, you were very disappointed. That 30 year age difference mattered, even if Mike Tyson was on of the greatest heavyweight boxers to ever live. Yeah, he was that great in his 20s, which is where Jake Paul is right now. Though one can argue that Paul isn’t close to being today’s greatest boxer, he is still well trained and young. You weren’t worried about his legs giving out as you were with Tyson.

But last night’s disappointing Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight highlights an obvious fact that we, pro wrestling fans, have known all along about big Boxing or Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) events… They can disappoint. Because Boxing, and its many different subdivisions, and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) are real and unscripted, they can lead to real results. If Paul and Tyson did that match in WWE, for example, the bookers would do everything in their power to prop up Mike Tyson to make you believe that he STILL has the magic. Bill Goldberg is proof of that, as WWE books around his limitations and his age to allow the Goldberg essence to remain alive. I’d argue the same for Ronda Rousey who was disposed by UFC and WWE propped her career up.

As a boxing fan since the 1980s, thanks to my Dad, we actually watched a ton of boxing events either on HBO or on Pay Per View (much to the reluctance of my Mom on that latter one). I watched the rise and the fall and then the return and then the ear biting of Mike Tyson. Following Mike, it was Riddick Bowe, an older George Foreman, Michael Moorer, and Lennox Lewis. Lots of lower weight divisions there, too, though we seemed to enjoy the Heavyweight division more than the others.

I’m here to tell you that based on my boxing viewership, maybe 30% (if that) featured something that was worth your time and especially money on the PPV side. That said, when that 30% was good, it was usually exceptional and unbelievable to the point where you wanted MORE.

Then, you’d get absolutely burned… Take Mike Tyson’s return fight from prison against Peter McNeely from August 1995. WHAT A TURD. You’re all hyped to see Tyson’s return and then his opponent’s corner stops the fight after 89 seconds. If you’re paying $50 for that fight, you just paid $0.56 per second and that adds up real quick to a waste of time.

While boxing can give you its share of trainwrecks, such as a parachuter trying to land inside the ring for Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe or when Mike Tyson bit into Holyfield’s ear, those moments were SHOCKING to see live… BUT that isn’t what you paid to see… You paid to see a competitive boxing match between the best heavyweights and those disruptions ruined your evening and took your money.

And then you see boxing matches that just suck, to the point where you question if it was rigged or not. Tyson vs. Paul is getting that criticism, but at least it was free as long as you have a monthly Netflix subscription. But look no further than Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao, which was hyped as the “biggest fight ever” for its time based on the records of both fighters and the many years it took to arrange this fight. Yet, when the got into the ring, they barely hit each other. For one, Manny had an undisclosed shoulder injury which limited his punching ability and Floyd is possibly the best defensive fighter ever. It was TERRIBLE and in my opinion, fans deserve their $100 back because it was fraudulent based on Manny’s undisclosed injury. Many betters, too, were screwed out of money because of that undisclosed injury. To me, this was the last fight that I ever bought on Pay Per View. I was done with this fraudulent sport.

With boxing, you have to endure a long undercard… Hence why most main event fights start around midnight or 1am if you live in the Eastern Timezone. And honestly, most of the undercard matches are torture to get through. Luckily, you and your friends make an event out of watching a big boxing Pay Per View, so you’re socializing, slamming some pizza or buffalo wings, or having some drinks. Since many of the undercard matches SUCK, you are free to socialize and catch-up with buddies. Still, if you really just want to see 1 fight, you endure 3-4 hours of CRAP before you get what you paid for.

Occasionally, you’ll get a good undercard match-up within that bunch that helps lessen the blow of a major Pay Per View purchase with boxing. Ya know, when the boxers actually try to punch each other and go for a Knockout instead of clutching and avoiding each other for 10 rounds?

Luckily, the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson had one such great undercard match and that was between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano who are about as good as it gets with women’s boxing. That was a BATTLE and both ladies BROUGHT IT in front of likely 150 million watching it on YouTube.

THAT SAID, let’s highlight what is WRONG with boxing. Amanda Serrano landed more punches in a fight with zero knockdowns. Katie Taylor lost a point for headbutting, too… Yet, Katie Taylor won a unanimous decision. Huh? Taylor won by landing fewer punches and losing a point for headbutting… How does THAT make sense? While I could argue quality of punches over quantity for Taylor, which I believe is how the judges decided it, the fact is that Serrano landed a bunch of quality punches from the quantity that she threw.

This kind of BS result is what makes boxing infuriating to watch… Sometimes the Judges get it wrong, yet in boxing, you have to live with that decision because having rematches in boxing is highly political and difficult to achieve. Why? Boxing has 4 different organizations who determine titles, weight classes, and contenders: WBO, IBF, WBA, and WBC. For as much as we argue about RAW vs. Smackdown, could imagine the WWE splitting their roster 4 ways and creating 4 separate sets of championships? At least with WWE, it’s contained in-house whereas setting up a boxing card is extremely difficult especially if you want your top drawing fighters to fight.

Getting back to the Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao FRAUD that was perpetrated… Remember how difficult it was to get that fight set-up? They were initially negotiating during 2009 for a 2010 fight. Almost immediately, there were issues splitting up the money evenly between the fighters and then there was an issue over drug testing, whether to go Olympic style or not based on one fighter’s accusations made about another. Then, there was drama over which weight class that this fight should represent, and that matters based on how you train or what your body is typically used to. Drama dragged out for years, wearing boxing fans out, until the match finally happened during May 2015 and the fight SUCKED. Both guys let themselves get 5-6 years older instead of fighting each other in their absolute primes. Even then, it’s likely that Floyd’s defensive style would have made for a boring fight anyway.

Compare that to UFC… Now with UFC events, you do see a thicker card and get to enjoy more punch for your money… Thus, the likelihood of seeing at least 1 great fight, if not several, occurs… However, I would argue with UFC is there is a lack of quality within the quantity. And I don’t just mean within the card, but having so many UFC events whether they are officially numbered Pay Per Views or not. UFC just floods the market with their content and thus doesn’t make it special. Furthermore, with the way Dana White runs the operations and his “BRAND over fighters” philosophy, it’s hard for anyone to get strong traction in that promotion to earn more money and once anyone has a few losses over there, they are gone. Ronda Rousey found that out after just 2 losses despite putting women’s MMA on the map, at the time.

Boxing is high risk, high reward… While UFC gives you too much quantity and not enough quality. Even there biggest moments don’t feel as special or dramatic as boxing. There’s a REASON why an older Mike Tyson drew hundreds of millions of eyeballs worldwide last night. Sorry, but nobody from UFC compares to the drawing magnitude of Tyson. The guy is a legend, whereas top UFC fighters are forgotten about immediately outside of its diehard fanbase.

Which brings me to Pro Wrestling… Now, it does have a QUANTITY issue and I’d argue that watching RAW or Smackdown is actually unnecessary as a wrestling fan. They are just wasting your time… If you just watched the Premium Live Events as a WWE fan, you’d walk away very satisfied because PLEs are stacked with quality matches and consistently gives you entertainment. Wrestling can control its results and thus ensure that EVERYONE involved in the match looks strong. WWE has the advantage of storytelling and controlling who wins and loses, while allowing a story to be created to give multiple second chances to wrestlers. Boxing and UFC discards their top fighters after a few crucial losses.

In Pro Wrestling, you can work well into your 40s and that’s now translating into your 50s, too. Hell with Sting, your 60s! Mike Tyson looked shot last night, but someone like Sting can perform in a reasonable fashion where spots are created to highlight his strengths and hide his weaknesses. Mike Tyson clearly had a knee issue while also protecting his face too much in that fight last night. In wrestling, creative booking can hide someone’s age… Go watch that Lesnar vs. Goldberg match from Wrestlemania, as I’d argue that’s the most exciting 5 minute match ever. Goldberg is NOT a good wrestler, yet Paul Heyman’s creative scripting of the match hid Goldberg’s weaknesses. The end result was pure electricity that actually LIVED UP TO THE HYPE.

Every month, wrestling fans watch Premium Live Events (PLE) are mostly satisfied with the shows. If a bad result occurs, they know that a rematch is coming. There isn’t RED TAPE to cut through to have said rematch, unlike what you see in the very political boxing world or UFC, and thus you’ll see that rematch soon. But if you don’t see that rematch soon, you’ll see other contenders immediately thrown at the top wrestler’s way.

Wrestling has the advantage because it can script everything, from the big moments to finishes… Thus, wrestling gives you a consistently good to great PLE or PPV. Even if the promotion has a bad in-ring night, which happens… You have faith and trust that the next show will improve upon that bad night. Why? Because WWE has done that for years. Not every event on the 12 month calendar is great, but if a bad night happens, WWE’s creative and production team will hold meetings to discuss what went wrong and what to fix. Boxing and UFC doesn’t have that, while dealing with agents and other legal issues to arranging matches, let alone rematches.

The way that wrestling keeps their superstars looking strong should always be commended. Lose often in boxing or UFC, and you’re out! But again in wrestling, characters can be rebuilt and creative booking can help keep “Father Time” in the closet for a while. Look at Ric Flair during the 2000s with Evolution… The man was in his mid 50s while hanging with Batista, Orton, and Triple H while actually working a full-time schedule himself. As you just saw with Mike Tyson, he struggled to box against a 27 year old who is actually at the lower end of the weight classes as a fighter, if he actually fought boxers… But thanks to the magic of pro wrestling, Ric Flair was allowed to remain the “Nature Boy” and perform at a high level because of the booking and his opponents making him look strong.

Honest question for those who watched Tyson vs. Paul last night… Are you willing to give Mike Tyson another chance for a boxing match?

Let me rephrase that… Would you PAY to see another fight featuring Mike Tyson? I believe that most of you would say “HELL NO”! After that fight, I don’t want to fall into a trap with Jake Paul, either. No thanks, as nothing impressed me about Paul’s fighting technique, though I respect him for pulling punches after the third round knowing that Mike couldn’t compete. Boxing has been “dead to me” thanks to Floyd vs. Manny for years now, so this Tyson vs. Paul match reminded me of what a farce the sport has become. Top athletes are playing basketball, football, baseball, or mixed-martial arts rather than joining boxing and its loads of red tape divided amongst its 4 federations and weight classes.

With WWE, just pay your monthly subscription to Peacock and coming soon, Netflix, to enjoy consistently GREAT Paid Live Events featuring wrestlers who you’ll get to enjoy for years. It’s nice to have consistency in your life and stronger bangs for your bucks.

Especially now that Triple H has ramped up the quality, along with Roman Reigns finally shining as a top superstar. I feel like I’m stealing money from the WWE when their product is this good. Hell, try being a teenager and coming up with $5-$10 bucks with your buddies during the 1990s to buy WWE or WCW Pay Per Views. Five or Ten bucks mattered back then, but you were willing to pay for quality. The Monday Night Wars fed us good and the Pay Per Views were worthwhile buys… Now, compare that to boxing Pay Per Views during the 1990s and they often fumbled the ball on the quality and I can remember my Mom yelling at my Dad for wanting to purchase yet another high priced boxing PPV especially in light of how disappointing the previous event was. Losing $50 during the 1990s hurt…

That’s why I’m proud to be an invested wrestling fan, and why I keep boxing and UFC at arm’s length. I don’t trust boxing or UFC, whereas I can trust WWE to give me quality PLEs for at least half of their year’s offerings, if not more.

And I believe that Endeavor purchasing WWE for roughly $10 billion (or so) happened for a reason. They could have been satisfied with just being the owner of UFC, but I think that they know UFC can have its limitations. With WWE, they can keep superstars stronger and for longer, which accumulates more merchandise sales and stronger brand awareness. WWE can send its wrestlers anywhere for appearances or autograph signings whereas UFC struggles in that based on their “chew up fighters, spit them out” model. UFC discarded Ronda Rousey after just 2 losses, but she goes to the WWE and draws money for years. WWE got 10 years out of Brock Lesnar after he left UFC after a few losses and an illness.

While UFC is larger right now due to the Pay Per View empire that they’ve built and sports gambling, give WWE a few years… Now that the booking is finally good again, thank you Triple H and Paul Heyman, WWE is going to keep growing for years. With the right investments in its developmental system, they’ll be able to churn out more superstars than ever before. Endeavor/TKO will give WWE the right resources to achieve this, too, as they are much more connected to the entertainment and agent world. Endeavor bought WWE knowing they could make it better and grow beyond what was becoming an obsolete Vince McMahon model.

Fool me once, shame on me… But boxing isn’t going to fool me multiple times here in the 21st century with its gimmicks and lack of real superstars that once made the sport great. Neither is UFC and their quantity of shows and quantity of fighters use that makes it so difficult to follow.

Give me Pro Wrestling (WWE, not the “all elite” nonsense) over Boxing or UFC any day of the week. Their monthly PLEs won’t let you down like Boxing or UFC can, while offering actual consistency instead of boxing’s high risk, high reward model and those rewards are few & far between to be honest.

There’s a reason why Logan Paul, Jake’s brother, is doing well in the WWE… WWE’s booking can take that “heat” generated as a YouTube superstar and present Logan as a credible wrestler. He tried boxing, too, but hasn’t seen much action from promoters since losing to Floyd Mayweather in a boring fight.

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