When he defeated former NBA star Nate Robinson in 2020 on the undercard of Mike Tyson’s exhibition boxing battle with Roy Jones Jr., Jake Paul became well-known in the combat sports world.
The former heavyweight boxing champion Tyson and YouTuber-turned-prizefighter Paul will now square off once more as opponents in what promises to be the most divisive show of the recent crossover boxing mania.
According to authorities who spoke with Usavibestoday, Tyson and Paul will square off in a boxing bout on July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The main event of the evening will stream on Netflix. This will be the streaming service’s third live athletic event overall and its first venture into combat sports. According to MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian, Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) signed a deal with Netflix for a boxing card on November 1.
“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 stated in a press release.
It is unknown how the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation—which oversees and supervises combat sports in the state—will handle the matchup, which is sure to draw a lot of attention and criticism. Whether it will be categorized as an exhibition or a professional fight is still up in the air.
One of the best and most intimidating heavyweight fighters in history is Tyson. But when the fight happens, he will be 58 years old. Paul is three decades his junior at 27 years old.
On November 28, 2020, Tyson battled Jones to a draw in an exhibition boxing contest, and he appeared well in training videos posted on social media. Tyson was in good shape at the time. Tyson was stopped in two straight fights before hanging up the gloves, and he hasn’t fought professionally since 2005. From 1987 to 1990, the New York City-born boxer was the unchallenged heavyweight champion.
“[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 stated in a release. “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.”
After the Robinson knockout, Paul (9-1, 6 KOs) went on to win lucrative main events against former UFC stars like Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva, and Nate Diaz. Since then, the Cleveland fighter has changed his focus to taking on fighters with more experience than he does in order to gain experience before perhaps challenging for a world championship. Paul is fresh off consecutive first-round knockout victories over journeymen Andre August and Ryan Bourland. Paul only became pro four years ago.
“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. Less than four years later, I’m going up against Tyson to see if I have what it takes to defeat one of the biggest iconic and most infamous fighters in boxing. As a tribute to everything we’ve accomplished in such a short period of time, we are set to deliver the biggest battle in history, a live broadcast in the largest NFL stadium in the US on the largest streaming platform worldwide, within just 2.5 years after launching MVP.”
The Netflix series “Untold” included Paul in one of its episodes last year. Over the past four months, Netflix, which is making a big push into live sports, has aired two major sporting events: the Netflix Slam, a tennis tournament, and the Netflix Cup, a battle involving Formula 1 drivers and golfers.
Netflix vice president for nonfiction sports, Gabe Spitzer, stated in a statement that “Jake Paul is one of the biggest disruptors in boxing history and Mike Tyson is one of the biggest icons in boxing history.” “There will be nothing but drama in the Texas ring on Saturday, July 20. We are excited to collaborate with Most Valuable Promotions on this momentous occasion, and we can’t wait for Netflix to host this matchup between these two for fans everywhere.”
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