Jake Paul became well-known in combat sports after he knocked out former NBA player Nate Robinson during the undercard of Mike Tyson’s exhibition boxing match with Roy Jones Jr. in 2020.
Now, Paul, the YouTuber-turned-prizefighter, and Tyson, the former heavyweight boxing champion, will meet again — as opponents — in what will be the most polarizing spectacle yet of the recent crossover boxing craze.
Tyson and Paul are going to have a boxing match on July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. This match will be the main event of a show that will be shown on Netflix. It’s Netflix’s first time showing a boxing event and their third live sports event overall. Paul’s company, Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), made a deal with Netflix for a boxing show last November 1, according to MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian.
“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,” Bidarian said in a statement.
It’s not clear how the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), which oversees combat sports in the state, will handle a highly controversial and attention-grabbing matchup. They haven’t decided if it will be considered a professional fight or just an exhibition.
Tyson is one of the greatest — and most fearsome — heavyweight boxers to ever live. But he will be 58 at the time of the fight. Paul, at 27, is three decades his junior.
Mike Tyson was in good condition when he fought Jones in a boxing match on November 28, 2020, and he’s been seen training well in videos on social media. Tyson hasn’t had a professional fight since 2005 and lost two in a row before retiring. He was the heavyweight champion from 1987 to 1990.
“[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.”
Paul (9-1, 6 KOs) went on to beat former UFC stars such as Nate Diaz, Anderson Silva and Tyron Woodley following the Robinson knockout in big-money main events. The Ohio native has since pivoted to fighting boxers who have more experience than him to gain seasoning with an eye toward one day competing for a world championship. Paul, who turned pro only four years ago, is coming off back-to-back first-round knockouts of journeymen Andre August and Ryan Bourland.
“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. 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.”
Last year, Paul appeared in an episode of the Netflix show called “Untold”. Netflix also hosted some sports events recently, like the Netflix Cup where Formula 1 drivers raced against golfers, and the Netflix Slam, a tennis match.
“Mike Tyson is one of the biggest icons in boxing history and Jake Paul is one of the biggest disruptors in boxing history,” Netflix vice president for nonfiction sports Gabe Spitzer said in a statement. “Saturday, July 20 will be pure drama in the ring in Texas. We are thrilled to partner with Most Valuable Promotions for this historic event and we can’t wait for these two to face off for fans all across the world on Netflix.”
