To some Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul is THE biggest boxing event in 2024, to others it is quite simply a freak show. But whichever side of the fence you sit on, you are likely to be watching this Friday night to see what happens with some level of interest.
That is the beauty of this weird and wonderful matchup – literally nobody knows what will happen. Can Tyson – a 58-year-old former heavyweight champion of the world, the one-time ‘baddest man on the planet’ – smash up Paul – a 27-year-old YouTuber turned fighter.
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That is the big imponderable here – the massive age gap. If both men were 27, then Jake would not be allowed into the ring for his own safety. But Tyson is no longer 27 – he is 31 years older than Jake and has not fought professionally since losing to the unheralded Kevin McBride way back in 2005. More than 19 years ago.
It is fair to say many hardcore boxing fans are horrified by the thought of this matchup – sickened even. But that is the way the world is moving, celebrity is everything and lots of people WILL tune in.
Right now, here is all we know about the big fight, currently set for Texas in mid-November.
When is Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul?
The big fight is scheduled for Friday night, November 15, 2024, at the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas (home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys).
It had originally been scheduled for July 20 at the same venue, but that date was postponed/cancelled when Tyson had an ulcer flare up, meaning he had to stop training. Now it is back on with a key pre-Thanksgiving date in November. And on a Friday night too.
Ring walks for the main event are expected at 11pm Eastern Time, which is 4am Saturday in the UK and 5am UK in Central Europe. If you are watching on the East Coast, then Tyson vs Paul ring walks are at around 8pm PST.
How to watch the fight live
Okay so this is one of the first big forays into live sports streaming for Netflix. Until recently a streaming platform which had always stuck to on-demand programming with no live element.
Now though it appears Netflix is testing the live sports waters in a significant way, and what better than a major one-off event on a key date (just ahead of Thanksgiving in the US) that it effectively controls? Later in the year it will also stream two NFL games live on Christmas Day (Kansas City Chiefs vs Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens vs Houston Texans).
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The good news for fight fans (and anybody just curious) is that THIS IS NOT A PPV show. So all you will need to watch the bout is a Netflix subscription to watch the action from Texas. A massive difference from that $89 PPV price for Canelo vs Berlanga on Amazon Prime Video.
It is Netflix betting on millions of fans signing up to watch the fight, then keeping those subscriptions. Pretty smart play in our humble opinion. The platform already has around 300million subscribers worldwide.
The bout will be streamed by Netflix globally, in five languages.
Is this a real fight or an exhibition?
Shockingly to many, it’s a real fight – officially sanctioned by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations (TDLR).
The fight will take place over eight rounds – each of them lasting two minutes. Both men will wear 14oz boxing gloves, with no headguards.
So the fight will appear on the professional records of both men. It is not, we repeat not, an exhibition.
Weights and weight limit
This is a heavyweight fight, so there is no actual weight limit.
Tyson of course is a former world heavyweight champion and for most of his career he fought at anything between 215lbs and 240lbs – getting gradually heavier as his career wore on.
Paul meanwhile, up until now, has been fighting at cruiserweight. So anything between 190lbs and the official 200lbs limit for cruiser.
Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul odds
Okay so like we said, if both men were 27, this would not be allowed. Jake would likely be in serious physical danger. But Tyson remember was shot as an elite fighter way back in 2005. So why should he be better now?
US sportsbooks have Jake as a -265 favourite with ‘Iron Mike’ a +250 underdog. The Draw is +1800.
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The latest UK odds have Jake as a hot favourite at 1/3, with Tyson 3/1. The best odds on a Draw are around the 16/1 mark.
In short, the thinking here is that Tyson – at the advanced age of 58 – cannot possibly fight at a high level or any sort of pace for long. Maybe a round or two at best. So if Jake weathers any early storm, it’s ballgame over and only a matter of time.
How to buy tickets
Okay, so as we said, AT&T Stadium will hold 80,000 fans for this one – and organisers are expecting a sellout. Incredible, with records already being broken. When tickets went on sale, prices ranged from around $200 way up to more than $5000.
Mike Tyson record
Michael Gerard Tyson, born in Brooklyn, New York on June 30, 1966, is now 58 years of age he stands 5ft 10ins tall (1.78m) with a reach of 71 inches (1.80m). Tyson has a professional boxing record of 50-6. That is 56 fights, 50 wins and 6 defeats. ‘Iron Mike’ claimed 44 of his victories by knockout and his punching power remains his biggest calling card.
Tyson’s career can be packaged neatly into three defined eras. It started with his devastating rise to become the youngest ever world heavyweight champion in 1986 with a devastating two-round stoppage of Trevor Berbick. That early portion of his career really ended in February 1990 when he was shockingly handed a first ever pro defeat at the hands of massive underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas in the Tokyo Dome in Japan. It was a result which sent shockwaves around the world.
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Soon after that defeat, Tyson was imprisoned for three years after being convicted of raping beauty pageant contestant Desiree Washington. It would be 1995 when he was released to resume his boxing career. He was again a huge box-office attraction and within a year he became a two-time world heavyweight king by destroying Britain’s overmatched Frank Bruno in Las Vegas.
The second portion of Tyson’s career really ended in November 1996 when he suffered another massive upset defeat, this time at the hands of Evander Holyfield via an 11th-round stoppage in their fight in Las Vegas. He was no longer an invincible force.
The rest of Tyson’s career was mired by controversy and included some humbling defeats. It began with the horrifying DQ for biting the ear of Holyfield in their massive rematch in June 1997.
Later, ‘Iron Mike’ would fight twice in the UK, beating Julius Francis in Manchester in 2000, followed by a win over Lou Savarese in Glasgow later that year.
Tyson would get one final shot at becoming a three-time world heavyweight champion, when he fought Lennox Lewis in Memphis, Tennessee in June 2002. There was controversy way before the first bell sounded with chaotic scenes at a pre-fight press conference in New York. Tyson was a shadow of his former self inside the ropes, and was bludgeoned to an eighth-round KO defeat by a Lewis who was at the peak of his powers.
After that defeat it was a continual downward trend for Tyson, who ended his pro career with defeats by Britain’s Danny Williams, and then McBride. It was a humbling end for one of the greatest heavyweights of his time. Except of course, it was not the end.
Jake Paul boxing record
Jake Joseph Paul, aka ‘The Problem Child’, was born in Cleveland, Ohio on January 17, 1997 and is now 27 years of age. He stands 6ft 1ins tall (1.85m) and has a reach of 76 inches (1.93m). The massively popular YouTuber (20.7m followers) is now a professional boxer too with a record of 10-1 with 7 wins coming inside distance. He also has his own promotional company now – MVP (Most Valuable Promotions).
Most of Paul’s pro bouts so far have been crossover affairs – a number of them against UFC stars. Notably against the likes of Anderson Silva and Nate Diaz.
Jake’s only pro defeat so far came against Tommy Fury – brother of former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury – via a split decision in Saudi Arabia in February 2023.
Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul undercard
Wow, this is quite the undercard, with a co-main event much better than the big fight itself.
Finally, two years on from their epic first meeting which sold out the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York, we get the Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano rematch. All of Taylor’s lightweight world titles will be on the line – remember she edged their terrific first fight by a wafer-thin verdict.
Meanwhile, India’s number one boxer and MVP’s first international signee, Neeraj Goyat (18-4-2, 8 KOs), will make his MVP debut against Brazil’s multi-talented superstar Whindersson Nunes, who holds a cumulative 2-2-1 record in his boxing career.
