Large groups – fuelled by Tyson nostalgia – gathered outside the Toyota Music Factory in Irving before fight-week festivities, wanting to get as close to him as they could as he got out of his car.
Social media influencers and stars from Netflix shows such Cobra Kai will attend on Friday, and a VIP package – valued at £1.5m – has been sold to a law firm. It includes photos with Tyson and Paul, a number of ringside tickets and a suite situated “flush against the ring”.
Amid the glitz of fight week, though, Taylor and Serrano have slipped into the background.
Their fight is being promoted by Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, and co-founder Nakisa Bidarian says a Netflix deal was agreed before Tyson was chosen as the opponent.
“People aged from four, five, six years old, all the way to the late 70s and early 80s who were fans of Mike in the 1990s or 1980s. We think it’s a very unique combination,” Bidarian says. “We expect record numbers.”
The Netflix listing for Friday’s event, which includes the boxers in the cast list, reads: “This film is: Rousing, Exciting.”
The hope is the genre does not turn out to be a horror.
