Even if you’re not a boxing fan, keep up with the ins and outs of influencer culture, or keep up with what’s streaming on Netflix at any given time, you’ve probably heard that Jake Paul will face Mike Tyson on November 15 in the ring. .
Paul, a 27-year-old YouTuber who has built an empire by creating on-screen controversy and become a surprisingly skilled boxer, takes on Mike Tyson, the 58-year-old boxing legend known as “the worst man in the world” .
They will face off at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, a huge venue where the Dallas Cowboys play. Netflix will stream the match, making it accessible to boxing fans and subscribers at no additional cost. It is expected to attract more viewers than the largest pay-per-view audience ever. That record was set in 2015 by Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
The fight was originally scheduled for July 20 but was postponed when Tyson, who had technically been retired for 19 years, suffered a dangerous flare-up of a stomach ulcer.
The typical rules of boxing have been adapted for the fight: they will compete in eight two-minute rounds. Professional boxing matches for men typically range from four to twelve rounds of three minutes each. They still get to knock each other out.
So why are they doing this? First of all, it will make a lot of money. As they both take this opportunity, their reputations are at stake.
Mike Tyson knocks out Trevor Berbick in 1986. Tyson won the fight by knockout at 2:35 of the second round, becoming the world’s youngest heavyweight champion in history at the age of 20. (Carlos Schiebeck/AFP)
Tyson doesn’t have to fight Paul. His legacy is cemented. He is one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time – a transcendent personality who is recognizable and beloved despite many controversies, including a rape conviction. He bit off Evander Holyfield’s ear. Winning this fight wouldn’t change his life or finances. Tyson just wants to fight because, as he told Rosie Perez in an interview, “I’m Mike Tyson… I want to test myself and see, ‘Can I really do it?'”
Paul has a lot to prove. He’s a remarkably talented boxer for someone who rose to fame through six-second comedy clips on the now-defunct social media platform Vine with his brother Logan Paul, but all the wins under his belt came from professional fighters and other athletes – not professional athletes . boxers.
“Jake Paul, if he gets knocked out by Mike Tyson, he gets knocked out by Mike Tyson. That’s almost a cool thing to say,” Chris Minnix, a writer for Sports Illustrated, said in Netflix’s Countdown: Paul vs. Tyson docuseries.
Jake Paul accepts the 2017 Radio Disney Music Award for Favorite Social Music Artist. (Image Group LA/Disney Channel via Getty Images)
Paul has a reputation for being a loudmouth and troublemaker, but so does Tyson. They are both ferocious fighters and natural entertainers. Paul has over 20 million subscribers on YouTube, but Tyson has decades of fame. One of Tyson’s post-fight speeches in 2000 will go down in history.
‘My style is impetuous, my defense is impregnable and I am just fierce. I want your heart, I want to eat his children. Praise be to Allah,” Tyson said.
If Tyson beats Paul, he will prove he can overcome time and retirement to cement his legacy. If Paul beats Tyson, he will have beaten a legend who is past his prime. The real challenge will be to see if Tyson, 20 years after his last professional fight, can put himself on the same level as someone half his age.
In a now viral clip from the Countdown docuseries, Tyson says there is a “fundamental difference” between him and Paul.
“He is a manufactured murderer. Television and newspapers have made him a murderer. He is a manufactured murderer. I am a born murderer. That is the difference,” he said.
At the final press conference about the fight, Paul said that “everyone is entitled to their opinion.”
“The deadliest weapon in the world is being manufactured, and that is a nuclear bomb,” he added.
Paul’s boxing career may have been manufactured – he poured resources from his career as an influencer into it rather than rising through the ranks with raw talent like Tyson did – but it’s something he’s been working on since 2018. He may never shake off the ‘Problem Child’. nickname (even if he’s now called “El Gallo”), but Paul’s 18-minute video endorsing Donald Trump before the election marked a shift in the way people see him. Paul was one of several conservative influencers who showed their support at the last minute, with commentators admitting that while they don’t enjoy his personality, they do respect his opinions.
The boxing promotion company that Paul co-owns, Most Valuable Promotions, has teamed up with Netflix to take on the fight. Paul founded a venture capital firm, a sports promotion agency and a sports betting company with its own media division. He might have gotten the inspiration to fight Tyson from an ayahuasca ceremony, but he successfully manifested it.
Jake Paul during an open training session on November 12. (Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
The match itself could draw high-profile crowds of sports personalities and influencers. Even Trump has expressed interest in attending.
At the final press conference before the fight on Wednesday, Paul called for Tyson to “be that old wild Mike.”
‘He says he’s going to kill me. I’m done. I want that killer,” Paul said. “I want the toughest match possible on Friday night, and I want there to be no excuses from everyone at home if I knock him out.”
A stoic Tyson didn’t have much to add.
“I’m just ready to fight. “I said everything I had to say,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to fighting.”
Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson begins streaming on November 15 at 8pm ET on Netflix.
