Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul referee handled the YouTuber match last year

On By Littum

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ARLINGTON, Texas – Mark Calo-oy, a veteran referee from Texas, has been selected to handle the fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, according to a copy of the official’s duties obtained by USA TODAY Sports.

He and Paul need no introduction. Calo-oy, 64, refereed Paul’s fight against Nate Diaz, a mixed martial arts fan favorite, on Aug. 5, 2023, in Dallas.

Paul, the YouTuber-turned-boxer, won the highly anticipated 10-round bout by unanimous decision.

The heavyweight bout between Tyson, 58, and Paul, 27, is to be held Friday at AT&T Stadium and televised by Netflix. And Calo-oy is familiar with big games in front of big crowds in Texas.

He judged world title fight between Canelo Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders in 2021 at AT&T Stadium in front of a crowd of 73,126. Alvarez won when Saunders failed to make it to the ninth round in front of the largest crowd for an indoor boxing event in the United States.

More: Is Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul a legit fight? The debate rages on

Damon Zavala, vice president of the Association of Ringside Physicians, said a referee would play an important role because of Tyson’s age. He made the remarks before USA TODAY learned the judge would be Calo-oy.

“There are differences in the refereeing style and how they take command of a situation in the ring and who is in charge,” Zavala, who is trained in internal medicine, told USA TODAY Sports in late October. “Some guys that can get caught up in the moment and just be a step too late to stop the action.”

Calo-oy’s history suggests he isn’t afraid to stop a fight. Of the 48 fights he has refereed this year, he has stopped 11 of them, according to BoxRec, the official record for boxing.

During a career that started in 2003, Calo-oy refereed 445 games, according to BoxRec. More than 20 of them were world title fights.

Tyson, the former world heavyweight champion, has not fought in a sanctioned pro fight since 2005. In 2020, Tyson fought Roy Jones Jr. in an eight round exhibition and they fought to a split draw as scored by celebrity judges.

The referees for the Tyson-Paul fight are David Iacobucci of Dallas, Laurence Cole of Dallas and Jesse Reyes of Plano.