All the stars made their way down to the Lone Star State ahead of one of the most highly anticipated boxing matches of the year as Mike Tyson is set to fight Jake Paul.
The bout that has been in the works for a number of months and featured delays due to the health of Tyson finally came to be on Friday.
Various stars from the worlds of sports, entertainment, and more traveled to AT&T Stadium in Arlington – outside of Dallas – as over 70,000 packed in to see the fight.
Among the most notable celebrities there were Basketball Hall of Famer and multiple-time NBA champion Shaquille O’Neal – dressed in head-to-toe black.
Sitting near him at the event was four-time Super Bowl champion tight end Rob Gronkowski, seen wearing a white jacket.
Before the event began, Shaq was photographed backstage with Academy Award winning South African actress Charlize Theron.
Super Bowl winner Rob Gronkowski (L) is interviewed on Netflix with Shaquille O’Neal
Shaq was also photgraphed backstage with Academy Award winning actress Charlize Theron
Other celebrities attending the bout included model and television personality Amber Rose – dressed in an elegant black ensemble.
Another star of the screen sat for the fight was Shang-Chi star Simu Liu – who was pictured next to Netflix’s CCO Bela Bajaria.
Jake’s brother, fellow YouTuber and WWE wrestling superstar Logan Paul was also in attendance – and even walked with his brother to the ring.
He wasn’t the only WWE superstar in attendance, with WWE Hall of Famer Titus O’Neil seen photographed alongside Shaq backstage.
Another celebrity photographed with Shaq was Transformers actor Josh Duhamel.
There were also a number of comedians, including Roastmaster Jeff Ross and Tom Segura – who was photographed alongside former NFL cornerback Adam ‘Pac Man’ Jones.
While those in the ring were able to watch the fight without issue, the same could not be said for those viewing from home.
According to Downdetector, which tracks online outages, more than 80,000 Netflix customers were experiencing issues by 10:35pm New York time on Friday.
Television personality and model Amber Rose spotted back stage before the fight
Actor Simu Liu (right), pictured with Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria (left)
Logan Paul, the WWE superstar and brother of Jake Paul, arrives at AT&T Stadium
Shaquille O’Neal (right) pictured with former WWE superstar Titus O’Neil before the bout
Actor Josh Duhamel (right) gets photographed with Shaquille O’Neal before Tyson-Paul
Comedian Jeff Ross (L), comedian Tom Segura (right picture, left) and Adam ‘PacMan’ Jones
‘Netflix is scamming everyone into watching a fight they have no idea how to support technically,’ one critic wrote on X.
‘Well, look at the bright side,’ one person joked. ‘Nothing like Netflix bringing the country back together after a divisive election. Seems we’re all on the same side tonight.’
But the night was a success for the streaming platform and for Most Valuable Promotions (MVP). Prior to Friday’s heavyweight bout in Arlington, Texas, the two revealed that the Tyson-Paul bout generated more than $17.8 million (£14.1million) at the gate to become boxing’s biggest box-office success in the United States outside of Las Vegas.
What’s more, Tyson-Paul has nearly doubled the previous record in Texas, when Mexico’s Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez defeated Britain’s Billy Joe Saunders at the same venue, AT&T Stadium, in 2021.
And outside of a 2016 UFC bout between Conor McGregor and Eddie Alvarez in New York, Friday’s fight card has registered the highest gate of any US combat sporting event outside of Las Vegas.
MVP, which is co-owned by Paul, expected more than 70,000 attendees at the home of the Dallas Cowboys. In total, the venue has a capacity of 80,000.
