FRIDAY night’s boxing rematch between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano is destined to be the most viewed world title fight of all time, thanks to a couple of misfits in the main event.

Netflix will make their live sports debut from Arlington, Texas with influencer-turned-‘athlete’ Jake Paul facing off against 58-year-old grandfather Mike Tyson in an eight two-minute round fiasco that’s blurring the lines between exhibition and competition.

Paul, 27, is predicting 20 million people will tune in, with the event streamed live to Netflix’s global audience at no extra cost.

In reality, it doesn’t even need to come close to that number to break boxing viewing records. Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao drew 4.6 million in 2015, but Netflix has a global subscription of over 280 million.

For Taylor and Serrano that means history beckons for their world title rematch.

Their first fight in 2022 was the first women’s fight to headline at Madison Square Garden and they delivered 10 scintillating rounds that divided both fans and the judges.

Irish superstar Taylor got the nod on a split decision, but the matchup was a fight of the year contender and this return will feature significantly on both their fighting legacies.

Both Taylor and Serrano are two of the biggest stars in the history of women’s boxing, multi-weight world champions who have inspired a generation of female boxers.

Taylor will put all of her super-lightweight world titles on the line this time around, but unlike in the first fight she arrives in Texas with a loss on her record.

A year after her victory over Serrano in New York, Taylor lost on points to Chantelle Cameron on her Dublin homecoming.

And even though she won the rematch last November, her unbeatable bubble has been burst. Now 38, what has she got left to offer at the top of the sport?

Serrano, 36, has won five straight since suffering on her second defeat in now 50 fights to Taylor.

Back down at featherweight, she’s successfully defended all of her unified belts without missing a beat. But once again she’s giving away natural advantage to Taylor by moving up the weight divisions.

This rematch will be up at super-lightweight and so, whilst Serrano did once win a world title at 140lb, it’s advantage Taylor physically inside the ropes.

Both have great fight IQ, clearly, and both move really well, punch in combinations and base their successes on volume rather than power punching.

But their first fight is a true indicator of what is to come on Friday night.

Taylor must once again start quickly. She did that in the rematch with Cameron and it was essential in reversing her fortunes.

Serrano dominated the middle rounds first time around, but if she can have a say in the early exchanges here that could swing the fight heavily in her favour.

At 38, I’m not sure if Taylor has it left in her legs to put her foot down in the closing rounds too. It was her strong finish that got her arm raised two years ago.

Serrano just feels a little fresher, a little busier and this time she won’t be denied on the judge’s scorecards. Trilogy fight at Croke Park anyone?

As for the circus of a main event, Tyson turning up to bank a reported $20 million comes with a price.

As much as boxing would love to see him flatten Jake with a momentary flashback explosion of hooks, the small print in his contract likely points towards a draw at best.

TIP: Serrano on Points (5/4)