Tyson vs. Paul coming to life
“Iron” Mike Tyson is stepping back into the ring to take on the “Problem Child” Jake Paul in the first boxing event ever streamed by Netflix on July 20.
Paul has just ten pro fights
Tyson, 57 (58 on fight night), is more than twice as experienced as the 27-year-old Paul in the game of life. He also fought 58 professional fights and had numerous amateur bouts, while Paul has just ten pro fights. The impending showdown between the two will go down as an exhibition match, meaning it won’t show on either of their records.
They say all press is good press, but all that this fight figures to be is a hundred-million-dollar disappointment. Let’s talk about it.
An inevitable snoozefest
Paul is no longer a YouTuber trying to box. He’s a legitimate boxer.
The former Disney star has spent years learning the sweet science and engaged with a variety of fighters, from YouTube stars to current pros, to MMA legends. He said several times his goal is to become a world champion.
“Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson is a once-in-a-lifetime dream matchup and I anticipate it will be the most-watched boxing event in modern boxing history,” said Most Valuable Promotions co-founder Nakisa Bidarian.
But with great power comes great responsibility.
the gimmick of fighting retirees needs to end
Boxing website Boxrec ranks Paul as the 112th cruiserweight in the world, two spots behind Tyson Fury’s half-brother, Tommy Fury, and four behind English champion, Viddal Riley. But if Paul wants to be taken seriously in the sport and continue to progress toward his ambitions, the gimmick of fighting retirees needs to end.
On one hand, it’s a no-brainer of a business opportunity for Paul. He previously said the fight could rake in $100m, a figure which isn’t hard to believe with the first-of-its-kind Netflix deal and the venue of AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
That said, the fight is just another reason not to take the young American seriously as a combatant. Tyson was the scariest man alive in his heyday, but he’s been out of the game since 2005 and looked like he was taking it easy when he fought Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition match in 2020, a card in which Paul first made a name for himself by knocking out former NBA star Nate Robinson.
Tyson and Paul weigh in
This is only the fourth time in Paul’s soon-to-be 12 fights that he will fight a true boxer, and it will be the third time they’ve been at least 35 years old (and in this case, not far off twice that).
To his credit, both of his last two fights were against real boxers. He KO’d Andre August in the first round in December 2023, and then TKO’d Ryan Bourland in the first round of his last fight on March 2.
now I plan to finish him”
“[Paul has] grown significantly as a boxer over the years, so it will be a lot of fun to see what the will and ambition of a ‘kid’ can do with the experience and aptitude of a GOAT,” Tyson said in a statement. “It’s a full-circle moment that will be beyond thrilling to watch, as I started him on his boxing journey on the undercard of my fight with Roy Jones, and now I plan to finish him.”
“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 statement. “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.”
During a podcast appearance two years ago, Tyson said he could beat Paul “So f*****g easy.” In all reality, he’s in a can’t-lose situation, while Paul is in a can’t-win.
