Jake Paul will fight former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in a made-for-streaming boxing match on July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Netflix, which will air the bout, made the announcement on Thursday along with Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions.
Paul, 27, came to fame on YouTube before transitioning to fighting. Tyson, 57, defeated Trevor Berbick in November 1986 to claim the World Boxing Council heavyweight championship at age 20.
The most recent fight for Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs) came on Nov. 28, 2020, in an exhibition with Roy Jones Jr. Paul (9-1, 6 KOs) was on the undercard that night and knocked out former NBA player Nate Robinson.
Tyson hasn’t fought professionally since 2005, and ESPN reported it has yet to be determined whether this bout will be classified as an exhibition or a pro event.
“He’s 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 of Paul in a news release. “It’s a full circle moment that will be beyond thrilling to watch as I started him off on his boxing journey on the undercard of my fight with Roy Jones and now I plan to finish him.”
Paul has defeated former UFC stars Nate Diaz and Anderson Silva in boxing matches. He will be competing against Tyson as a heavyweight.
“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. “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.”
Paul, in the news release, marveled at his production company.
“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 U.S., broadcast live, on the biggest streaming platform in the world — a testament to all we’ve accomplished in such a short amount of time.”
It’s the latest entry into Netflix’s foray into live sports, which most recently streamed the Netflix Slam, a match between Spanish tennis stars Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.
“Mike Tyson is one of the biggest icons in boxing history and Jake Paul is one of the biggest disruptors in boxing history,” Gabe Spitzer, Netflix vice president for nonfiction sports, said in a statement. “Saturday, July 20 will be pure drama in the ring in Texas.”
–Field Level Media