‘It’s dumb, but I’ll watch it’: why Tyson’s Netflix brawl is big box office

YouTuber Jake Paul versus the 58-year-old boxing legend - a grizzly pantomime? Or a grim harbinger of the future?

The trailer for Netflix's latest multimillion-dollar venture starts with a dramatic drumbeat, the slap of glove on pad, and a familiar Brooklyn drawl. He's a manufactured killer," says Mike Tyson, with almost cartoon relish. I am a natural-born killer."

The camera then cuts to the man he will face in the early hours of Saturday UK time, the influencer Jake Paul. We're going to war," predicts Paul, who made his fortune filming pranks such as I Sunk My Friend's Car And Surprised Him With A New One before an even more lucrative pivot into boxing. And he's getting knocked out."