Thursday morning brought bad news for those who are tired of “circus fights” in the boxing ring. Social media star-turned-boxer Jake Paul will face 57-year-old heavyweight legend Mike Tyson, Paul announced. The bout will take place on July 20 from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The fight will stream live on Netflix.
Tyson has not fought since his exhibition bout with Roy Jones Jr. in November 2020. That bout was one of the moments that ushered in crossover boxing cards focused less on high-level boxing and more on spectacle. On the undercard of that event, Paul fought former NBA player Nate Robinson in the second professional bout of his career, scoring a viral knockout and kicking off major interest in a boxing career that now has Paul with a record of 9-1.
While Tyson looked sharp for his age in the bout with Jones, his best days are clearly far behind him and he has not fought at a professional level since 2005, with his last professional win coming in 2003. In Paul, Tyson is facing a man 30 years his junior and who has become one of the most polarizing figures in the sport.
“It’s crazy to think that in my second pro fight, I went viral for knocking out Nate Robinson on Mike Tyson’s undercard,” Paul said in a press release. “Now, less than four years later, I’m stepping up to face Tyson myself to see if I have what it takes to beat one of boxing’s most notorious fighters and biggest icons. Within just two and a half years of founding MVP, we’re about to produce the biggest fight in history, a fight in the biggest NFL stadium in the US, broadcast live, on the biggest streaming platform in the world – a testament to all we’ve accomplished in such a short amount of time … My sights are set on becoming a world champion, and now I have a chance to prove myself against the greatest heavyweight champion ever, the baddest man on the planet and the most dangerous boxer of all time. This will be the fight of a lifetime.”
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After starting his career by facing mostly former mixed martial arts stars, Paul is coming off back-to-back first-round knockout wins over professional boxers, though his opponents, Andre August and Ryan Bourland, are boxers from the club fighter level rather than legitimate threats to score an upset.
Details on whether the fight will be an exhibition or professional bout are still to be announced, though it’s unlikely Tyson vs. Paul will be sanctioned at the professional level.
