Jake Paul declared he is “ready for the big leagues” on Saturday night following his first-round TKO of Ryan Bourland.
It better be.
Paul's next fight was announced on Thursday and will be against one of the best boxers: Mike Tyson. The heavyweight fight will take place on July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and will stream exclusively on Netflix.
“It's crazy to think that in my second professional fight, I went viral for knocking out Nate Robinson on the Mike Tyson undercard,” Paul said in a statement about the 2020 card that Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. headlined at Staples Center . “Now, less than four years later, I'm going to take on Tyson myself to see if I have what it takes to beat one of boxing's most notorious fighters and one of its biggest icons.”
Paul, a 27-year-old YouTube influencer and former Disney Channel star, is 9-1 with six knockouts as a boxer. He has been criticized for facing opponents who are not professional boxers, including several veteran mixed martial arts stars, or unknown boxers.
This fight changes that narrative, former World Boxing Council light middleweight champion and current DAZN commentator Sergio Mora told the Times via text message Thursday morning.
“He has fought against professionals and now he will face a former world heavyweight champion,” Mora wrote. “How can we not respect Paul now for having the balls (and the fans) to be able to make and sell a fight like this?”
Mike Tyson, center, attends a boxing match between Jake Paul and Tommy Fury on February 26, 2023 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
(Associated Press)
Of course, the elephant in the room is the age difference between the two fighters. Tyson will be 58 years old at the time of the fight. He is considered one of the greatest boxers, but his reign as undisputed heavyweight champion was more than three decades ago. When Tyson retired as a professional boxer in 2005, Paul was 8 years old and still several years away from becoming a teenage Internet star with his brother Logan Paul.
Still, Mora predicts a competitive fight between Paul and Tyson.
“If the fight is eight rounds, Mike Tyson should beat him by decision,” Mora said. “As much as I'd like to say knockout, it's hard to see a 58-year-old guy knocking out a guy 30 years younger, stronger and very athletic.”
Paul and Tyson have appeared together on Netflix before. Last year, Tyson made waves in the fighting community by declaring that Paul will “save boxing” during an interview featured in the streaming service's documentary, “Untold: Jake Paul the Problem Child.”
Tyson still has many positive things to say about Paul as a boxer, even though Iron Mike intends to “finish him” during their fight in July.
“He 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 coming full circle moment that will be more than exciting to watch; since I started him on his boxing journey on the undercard of my fight with Roy Jones and now I plan to finish it.”
