Netflix’s Canelo Álvarez vs. Terence Crawford Outdraws Taylor vs. Serrano 3 But Falls Short of Paul vs. Tyson

Picture: Netflix

Netflix’s latest boxing event, Canelo vs. Crawford, performed strongly and now sits between Taylor vs. Serrano 3 and Paul vs. Tyson in terms of overall scale in Netflix’s boxing foray thus far. The fight drew a global average minute audience (AMA) of 36.6 million live plus same-day, rising to 41.4 million in Live+1. That makes it far larger than Taylor vs. Serrano 3 (around six million Live+1) but still behind Paul vs. Tyson, which topped 125 million in Live+1. Here are all the viewership stats we have for Canelo Álvarez vs Terence Crawford. 

Note: This report uses data from Netflix’s official top 10 site and their press release that came out yesterday.

Main Viewership Metrics

When comparing the three Netflix boxing events side by side, Canelo vs. Crawford sits almost seven times larger than Taylor vs. Serrano 3 globally (41.4M Live+1 vs. ~6M) and nearly five times larger in the US (20.3M vs. 4.2M). Against Paul vs. Tyson, however, the picture shifts – Canelo–Crawford’s Live+1 audience was about two-thirds smaller globally (41.4M vs. 125M, a 67% drop) and more than half smaller in the US (20.3M vs. 47M, a 57% drop).

The $47M gate in Las Vegas was almost eighteen times bigger than Taylor–Serrano’s $2.63M at Madison Square Garden and more than double the $18.12M generated at Paul–Tyson in Arlington.

The concentration of the US on international audiences is noteworthy, particularly in the context of the Paul vs Tyson and Canelo fight, with the Tyson fight scoring much more international viewers. Of course, given its very late start in the United States, most of the boxing matches thus far have been too late in the night for most viewers in Europe and further East, meaning they’ll watch on replay in the morning, via clips on social media, or not at all. 

Adding the NFL Christmas Games in 2024 to the mix, we can see that Canelo vs Crawford performed better globally, but perhaps expectedly, less well among US viewers. 

Netflix Top 10 Statistics

Putting all that into charts with both views and viewing hours, let’s take a look at how those shape up:

Social Media Stats

On social platforms, Canelo vs. Crawford reportedly generated a significant digital footprint, although likely far below the phenomenon that was Tyson vs Paul. Netflix reported more than 950 million owned impressions across its global channels tied to the fight. On X, the event trended at #1 in the United States and was among the top two topics in Mexico, with related terms accounting for 21 of the top 30 US trends on fight night.

By contrast, Paul vs. Tyson was the top global trend at the time of the bout, dominating conversations across most regions where Netflix operates. Taylor vs. Serrano 3 trended more modestly, reaching the #3 global spot.

An additional audience came through out-of-home viewing: Joe Hand Promotions estimated around 500,000 people watched Canelo vs. Crawford across 2,700 bars and restaurants in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. No comparable out-of-home figures were provided for the other events.

Looking at Google, Tyson vs Paul dominated in all regions with one obvious exception: Mexico!

Next up for Netflix in the boxing arena is Jake Paul, once again, who will be going toe-to-toe with Gervonta “Tank” Davis on November 14th. We’ll have more coverage and full analysis of those viewership numbers the second they become available.