Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight a circus full of questions

LAS COLINAS, Texas — What year is it?

No, there is no time machine. No fountain of youth.

No secret potion to bring him back to his prime.

But in the penultimate month of 2024, Mike Tyson is still at the center of massive events.

“I’m just ready to fight,” Tyson said Wednesday. “I’ve said everything I’ve had to say. There’s nothing else to say. I’m just looking forward to fighting. … (the crowd) speaks for itself.”

Now he is 58 years old, but he does not carry this promotion himself – far from it.

This time he has a dance partner bridging him to the next generation of fans in Jake Paul.

The 27-year-old YouTuber-turned-boxer possesses a massive following and the ability to attract audiences.

His ability to connect with younger followers on social media has created significant intrigue in his career, whether positive or more often negative.

It has accelerated his boxing career exponentially, bringing him lucrative paydays and to gigantic platforms that almost no other fighter could reach at this stage of their career.

Together, Tyson and Paul have created an event where almost no one knows what to expect.

The two held their final news conference Wednesday at the Toyota Music Center ahead of their highly anticipated matchup Friday night at AT&T Stadium — home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.

The fight will be streamed live on Netflix, free to subscribers with no pay-per-view, marking the first ever boxing match to be streamed by the company.

Both are in line for massive earnings, with Paul expected to earn around $40 million and Tyson around $20 million.

Paul has predicted that 20 million people will tune in, but Netflix doesn’t even have to come close to that number to make history.

Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao drew 4.6 million viewers in 2015, the most watched boxing match of all time. Nakisa Bidarian, who co-founded Most Valuable Promotions with Paul, claimed they are on track for 65,000 fans in attendance.

“I’m blessed to be in the position I am, to be heavily criticized,” Paul said. “It just means I’m doing something right. No one has had a boxing career like mine. It will be scrutinized and judged, but I’ve made it to the top in four years because I’ve taken risks.”

Tyson (50-6-2, 44 KOs), one of the greatest legends – and villains – in sports history, has not fought a professional fight since his loss to Kevin McBride in 2005, although he did fight Roy Jones Jr . exhibition in 2020.

Tyson suffered an inflamed wound on a flight in May, which caused this fight to be postponed from July 20 to Friday.

There isn’t much precedent for 58-year-olds coming off festering wounds when they get in the ring and get hit, to say the least.

Paul (10-1, 7 KOs) has fought other influencers, MMA fighters turned boxers, athletes from other sports and low-level professional boxers.

To make this fight even more unique, although it is an officially sanctioned heavyweight bout that will count towards both fighters’ records, there will be eight (rather than 10 rounds, which is typical for non-title bouts) two-minute rounds instead of the three-minute long rounds that are standard in boxing.

Both fighters will also wear larger 14-ounce gloves instead of the 10-ounce gloves standard for heavyweights to reduce the impact of punches.

It all raises so many questions that should be answered soon.

Does Tyson actually have anything left?

Is it safe for him?

Can Paul actually box, or has his entire career just been a gimmick for the money?

Is this something that could help boxing and provide a new medium for watching live sport, or a stand-alone designed to shock viewers into watching?

Should this be taken seriously despite the different rules?

Anyone’s guess is as good as anyone else’s. That mystery drives the huge interest in this fight.

“I don’t want to lose,” Tyson said in a rare moment of animation. “Did you hear what I said?”

Hundreds of fans jammed into the Toyota Music Center on Wednesday. Booze flowed through the seats, smells of marijuana wafted through the room, and shouts from the audience constantly interrupted the fighters on stage.

Tyson barely spoke in complete sentences and never mustered more than a few words at a time, even when probed again and again by host Ariel Helwani.

Paul went on a tirade against reporters, cursing the undercard fighters who predicted he would lose and challenging them all to bet against him.

The circus has begun.

“Someone’s being put to sleep,” Paul said. “It will be a war and we are both difficult. It will not last the full 16 minutes.”