Netflix says 60 million households worldwide tuned in live to view Mike Tyson receive on Jake Paul, in the streaming giant’s first foray into live boxing.

The occurrence, which was free for subscribers, is being hailed by the tech giant as a “record breaking night”.

However, fans hoping to watch have expressed their rage and disappointment after some reported Netflix crashed repeatedly throughout the fight.

But there was also criticism from those who were able to tune in, with many saying they found the boxing match lacklustre.

In the bout, which took place at the AT&T Stadium in Texas, former globe heavyweight champion Tyson, 58, was beaten by YouTuber-turned-fighter Paul, 27.

The fight attracted a huge amount of media coverage. Tyson is one of the most famous boxers on the earth, while Paul drew in a younger spectators.

There was a star-studded ringside spectators including Charlize Theron, Ralph Macchio, Joe Jonas and Hasan Minhaj.

Paul says 120 million viewers watched it live globally on Netflix, while the tech firm later stated “60 million households” around the globe tuned in. It said it will reveal further viewing figures early next week.

But some viewers reported experiencing buffering issues on the site, and some said they simply couldn’t get onto it.

The fight was “unwatchable,” wrote one X user. Another said she was “furious”, while a third complained he “did an all-nighter for nothing”.

Netflix declined to comment on the technical glitches.

Brendan Ashford, who lives in Devon, told BBC information he stayed up late to watch the fight, which took place in the early hours of Saturday morning UK period.

“I was interested to view how Mike Tyson, at 58, would perform against a much younger guy,” he said.

“I’m not in the habit of staying up late, but I thought it was worth it.”

He tried signing in on Netflix at around 04:00 GMT, and says initially it loaded 25%, and then it got to 75%, but after that it got stuck.

“I knew I had a excellent connection, so then I looked on social media and saw others were also experiencing issues,” he said.

“It was really disappointing. I kept trying for a excellent hour before I gave up.”

Mr Ashford said it made him wonder how Netflix would fare with upcoming live sports events, given the problems people encountered this period.

“It can’t be excellent for their reputation,” he said.

On social media, there was a similar reaction from fans, who vented their frustrations.

Many also posted pictures and videos of the fight failing to load, while some said the service failed at the key moments during the occurrence.

“Had all my friends over to watch the Tyson vs. Paul fight. Not loading,” wrote one X user.

“Shame on Netflix for not being able to handle the streaming of the Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul fight,” wrote another.

“The lagging is so impoverished the fights are unwatchable to long period subscribers like me and other people I recognize at home with friends, household, snacks, and drinks but no fights.”

Another person simply asked, “did Netflix not have enough period to prepare for the Tyson / Paul fight?”

This isn’t the first period Netflix has had issues with live streaming.

Last year, it apologised after a much-publicised livestream of its hit dating display, the adore is Blind get-together, was delayed due to a glitch.

The technical rationale for the delay was ambiguous but the streaming giant said it was “incredibly sorry”.

No rationale has been given for these latest issues, but Chris Stokel-Walker, a tech reporter, said that the huge demand to watch the fight was “Netflix’s undoing”.

“Netflix has done live broadcasting before,” he said.

“What’s different, was that this fight was so hyped.

“There were so many viewers that were wanting to watch this, given the personalities involved – Jake Paul with his huge following, Mike Tyson returning to the ring for the first period in decades.

“Even people who aren’t major boxing fans wanted to tune in because of all the coverage.

“As a outcome, there was additional demand well above and beyond your average live occurrence, like a comedy special, or the live golf tournament they previously broadcast.”

Mr Stokel-Walker said that with Netflix intending to shift towards more live sports in upcoming, including a recent deal with WWE from next year, it “needs to get this fixed”.

“They have to expect that if they’re going to get into this globe, they’re going to have to get used to this volume of people coming,” he said.

“The Tyson vs Paul fight was one of the most high profile examples of an occurrence they’ve done live, so it’s really not ideal.

“People will be watching this and wondering can they cope.”

Additional reporting by Emma Pengelly.