Jake Paul faces Mike Tyson in a boxing event unlike any other

CNN
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Love him or hate him, the world continues to watch Jake Paul, the former YouTuber and Disney star who has taken social media by storm since his switch to boxing in 2020.

The 27-year-old has accumulated a professional record of 10-1, with six wins coming by way of knockout. On Friday, Paul steps into the ring for perhaps his most high-profile fight to date against former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.

“I think I’ll knock him out in the fifth or sixth round,” Paul said in an interview with CNN. “I love Mike, but I have business to take care of.”

The pair were originally scheduled to fight in July this year, but that was postponed when Tyson experienced a wound that flared up on a flight.

The main card for Friday’s event at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas begins at 8:30 p.m. ET, with the fight between Tyson and Paul taking place over eight two-minute rounds and expected to begin around 11 p.m. ET. It will be free to watch with a Netflix subscription.

Although Paul is slightly favored to win, the martial arts community has been divided over the idea of ​​the fight. First, Eddie Hearn, Matchroom CEO and one of the biggest promoters in the sport, has been highly critical.

“He (Tyson) is 58 years old,” Hearn said Fight Hub TVadding: “I think it’s very sad, but it’s a big event. I understand that people want to see it. It’s entertainment, but for someone who idolized the guy growing up, it’s not the best day.”

British promoter Hearn represents boxing superstars Canelo Álvarez, Oleksandr Usyk and Dmitry Bivol. He also represents Katie Taylor, who fights on the undercard of Paul vs. Tyson.

On the other hand, the former heavyweight world champion and one of Hearn’s clients, Anthony Joshua, has a completely different opinion about the fight.

“I personally think it’s really good,” Joshua said of The Jonathan Ross Show. “I think that boxing hardcores, boxing fanatics, they don’t like it because it’s like, ‘Why are they disrespecting our sport?’

“Let’s say we split this crowd in half and you have half of the people who are hardcore boxing fans and half of the people who love a certain YouTuber, but that person brings in all those people in boxing, which benefits everyone else involved in the industry,” Joshua continued.

Criticism has also been leveled at Paul over the age difference with Tyson. At the time of the fight, Tyson will be 31 years older than Paul.

Although Tyson is the more experienced fighter, decades have passed since his reign in the ring. Paul, meanwhile, is entering his physical prime when it comes to age.

Speaking to CNN, the former YouTuber said his dream is to become a world boxing champion, but are the fights helping or hurting Tyson, 58, in that quest?

“I think it helps to go in there with one of the most ruthless and vicious champions ever and get that experience under your belt,” Paul explained.

“Being able to hold a camp and go in there under the bright lights against one of the greatest that ever did is only going to help my experience level,” he continued. “As I continue to improve behind the scenes at each camp, the more time I get in the sport, the more lethal I become.”

In his professional career, Tyson was known for his brutal knockouts, where he won in emphatic fashion over legends such as Michael Spinks and Larry Holmes. His last professional win was in February 2003 when he defeated Clifford Etienne by a first round knockout. His last fight was an exhibition match against Roy Jones Jr. in November 2020, which ended in a draw.

Tyson has been releasing training videos ahead of the Paul fight and despite his age, the former heavyweight champion looks in top form.

“I’m really not (nervous),” Paul said. “I believe in my ability. I’ve improved tenfold in every aspect of my game. I think heavyweights are slow. They don’t have a ton of boxing ability and they can’t get out of the way of punches.

“In there, I’m going to outbox Mike. He’s not going to be able to beat me because I’m not going to sit there like a lot of these heavyweights did throughout his career and try to trade punches with him.”

Paul repeated some of his criticism of Tyson at the weigh-in on Thursday. As the pair stared each other down, the 58-year-old threw an open-handed punch which connected with Paul’s face.

“I didn’t even feel it,” Paul told Ariel Helwani moments later after the fighters had been separated by security. “He’s angry. He’s an angry little goblin. Mike Tyson, I thought it was a nice slap, mate, but tomorrow you’re going to be knocked out.

Paul is a polarizing figure online, used to receiving both positive and negative reactions to his behavior on social media.

“It drives me. I love proving people wrong,” he said. “I think sometimes my confidence comes across as arrogant and cocky, this guy thinks he knows it all, but it simply comes back to confidence and me believing in myself.

“When you do that in today’s society that’s full of losers and sheep, they just want to label you as the bad guy and single you out and want to see you fail,” Paul continued.

“That’s where I became abrasive and got a lot of criticism online. The funny thing about it all is that it never happens in person. Personally, it’s love everywhere I go. Thousands of people. Thousands of images. I literally can’t go anywhere.”

Paul had an unconventional introduction to boxing, which he said started “as a whole YouTube extravaganza” of people challenging him and his brother Logan. Soon they found themselves “training like pros” in preparation for big matches.

“The feeling of winning in front of 30,000 people saying ‘F*ck Jake Paul’ – it was such an amazing feeling,” Paul said. “I slowly fell in love with the sport.”

In January 2020, Paul entered the ring for his first professional fight, beating YouTuber Ali Eson Gib by technical knockout. Since his debut, he has defeated retired basketball player Nate Robinson and former MMA legends Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva and Nate Diaz.

Last February, Paul suffered his first loss at the hands of Tommy Fury, younger brother of former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. Although Paul scored a knockdown, Fury defeated him with a split decision victory.

Paul bounced back from the loss with a unanimous decision win over retired UFC fighter Diaz. In his most recent fights, he defeated professional boxers Andre August and Ryan Borland, both by knockout in the first round.

After the postponement of their initial fight in July, Paul went on to defeat bare knuckle boxing champion Mike Perry with a sixth round TKO.

In addition to his exploits in the ring, Paul has also started his own production company with Nakisa Bidarian, who previously served as CFO of the UFC. Most Valuable Promotions has since signed one of the biggest names in women’s boxing in Puerto Rican star Amanda Serrano, who will compete for a rematch against Irish fighter Taylor on Friday.

Serrano was seen by Bidarian as “the perfect vehicle, perfect athlete, perfect superstar in the making” when he was signed to Most Valuable Promotions.

“(The company) was really based on three things,” Bidarian told CNN. “One with the mindset of fighters first … Two wanted to double women … The third was wanting to give boxers a platform.”

As for his goals beyond the fight with Tyson, Paul wants to challenge for a world boxing championship, with the intention of fighting in the cruiserweight division, as well as a fight against one of the sport’s biggest stars.

“Becoming world champion (in boxing) is first on the list,” he said. “I think once I have that belt, Canelo (Álvarez) will want to fight me.

“Just to see the look on everybody’s face when I knock Canelo out for the first time in his career, the disappointment of all his fans will be funny,” Paul continued. “Then I would retire after that.”

After winning a world championship in boxing, Paul plans to take his talents to mixed martial arts. He hopes to become the first two-sport fighting champion.

“I want to be the first double sports champion,” said Paul. “(I want to) move to MMA and get a world championship belt in MMA.

“I think it’s so much easier than boxing,” he added. “MMA fighters have terrible cardio, slow pace, terrible striking, their wrestling is mediocre.”

On Friday’s fight, such bold claims about his boxing career will be put aside for a moment as Paul takes on one of the most fearsome fighters the sport has ever seen.