Season 1 |
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Episode Guide
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Countdown: Paul VS Tyson serves as a promotional documentary, counting down to what many people are calling the most anticipated fight of the year. And it’s hard to doubt that. The buzz and media hype around this fight is at fever pitch, while Netflix will be streaming it live when it drops next week.
In the meantime, we have this 3 part documentary series to tide us over. The third episode is due to release on the 12th, and to be honest, given how short the episodes are, this does feel a bit padded and underdeveloped.
The series dives into the backstory for both Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, showcasing how they came into the boxing world, all the hardships and adversity leading up to this point, and everything in between. We see their family lives too, with episode 2 in particular feeling more like a fly on the wall experience as Jake Paul wonders what hairstyle to get and Tyson drives his daughter around. Riveting stuff.
However, the bulk of what’s here looks at the fight itself and it’s undoubtedly a fascinating match-up. On the one hand you have a 58 year old retired boxer coming back in to fight a young amateur in Jake Paul. Tyson’s story speaks for itself and he didn’t become the baddest man on the planet by being a pushover. In his own words: “He’s a manufactured killer, I’m a natural-born killer.”
By comparison, Paul is a master at promotion and entertainment, and that much is especially true given the way he’s switched from YouTube across to boxing. Of course, much like other boxers, his fights have been carefully handpicked but as Paul himself alludes to, you need to work hard to get to where you are.
The editing in this series is pretty good overall, with a countdown timer for the number of days until the big fight working as a bridge between Tyson and Paul’s respective boxing camps, as we bounce between the two working hard in the gym, riffing on their opponent or just discussing their careers. There’s also some extra detail about the Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano rematch, but not much else beyond that.
Honestly, given this is clearly a hype promotional series, it would have been nice to get more context and extra episodes diving into this in more detail, along with the other bouts like Mario Barrios vs Abel Ramos. The show also covers the same material in the Untold movie about Jake Paul too, so if you watched that then a lot of this stuff is repurposed for this series too.
With all that being said, if you’re after a series to quickly highlight how we’ve come to this big fight, and the steps along the way (not to mention hype the big event), then Netflix’s series is not bad. It’s not pretty, and feels a bit rough around the edges at times, but it serves its purpose well.
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Verdict - 6/10
6/10