BOXING BOUT Mike Tyson, 57, to fight 27-year-old Jake Paul in July
Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson will fight boxing influencer Jake Paul on July 20 in Arlington, Texas.
The bout is scheduled to take place three weeks after Tyson’s 58th birthday. Paul is 27 years old.
Even Netflix, which will be live-streaming the fight, seemed surprised in their announcement of the showdown.
“It’s JAKE PAUL vs. MIKE TYSON — yes, really! — in a LIVE BOXING event at AT&T Stadium,” Netflix posted on X. “You won’t want to miss.”
Paul shared the announcement on his own social media pages.
“The biggest fight of the 21st century, in the biggest NFL stadium in the US, broadcast live, on the biggest streaming platform in the world… that’s the MVP way,” the Ohio native wrote.
Few other details of the fight have been announced.
Paul weighs in around 200 lbs., putting him at the lower end of the heavyweight class. Tyson meanwhile fought at around 220 lbs. when he ruled the boxing heavyweight division.
Tyson retired from boxing in 2005, but participated in a 2020 three-round exhibition match with fellow retired heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr. that ended in a draw.
Paul defeated former
New York Knicks guard Nate Robinson on the undercard of that bout in Los Angeles.
Boxing Insider Promotions promoter Larry Goldberg told the New York Daily News he could never get a match between two fighters with a three-decade age disparity to happen in New York City, where he hosts boxing events including a Thursday fight card at Sony Hall.
“I couldn’t present this to the New York State
Athletic Commission,” he said. “The doctors would never sign off on it. We couldn’t even suggest something like that here.”
Goldberg said he initially thought the Netflix announcement was a joke and assumes the match will be some sort of exhibition rather than a bloodbath. But he called Paul “a marketing genius” and credits Netflix for stepping into the ring by broadcasting its “boxing mega-event.”
While Goldberg feels the 30-year age difference between Tyson and Paul is significant, he gives the former champ a fighting chance.
“He’s Mike Tyson,” Goldberg said. “He could knock someone out at 99.”