Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson and social media influencer/boxer Jake Paul will face off in a match on July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, as part of a main event card airing on Netflix.
The event will be Netflix’s first combat sports broadcast and third sporting event overall following The Netflix Cup, a golf tournament between Formula 1 drivers and PGA Tour players, and The Netflix Slam, a tennis match between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.
“Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson is a once in a lifetime dream matchup and I anticipate it will be the most-watched boxing event in modern boxing history,” said Nakisa Bidarian, founder of Most Valuable Promotions.
Paul, 27, has 10 professional bouts to his name with a 9-1 record, which includes six knockouts. His most recent fight was a first-round TKO of Ryan Bourland last Saturday night in Puerto Rico. He also recorded a first-round knockout of Andre August in December.
Tyson, who will turn 58 in June, won 50 total fights in his career with 44 coming via knockout and was the youngest heavyweight champion ever at 20 years old. He last fought during an exhibition match in Nov. 2020 against Roy Jones Jr., which ended in a draw.
Tyson’s last professional fight came in 2005 when he threw in the towel ahead of the seventh round against Kevin McBride. That match came nearly a year after he suffered a fourth-round knockout by Danny Williams.
“[Paul 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 full circle moment that will be beyond thrilling to watch; as I started him on his boxing journey on the undercard of my fight with Roy Jones and now I plan to finish him.”
According to ESPNthere’s still a question about how the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation will sanction the event given the amount of attention it will receive. Also still to be answered is whether the match will be classified as a professional fight or an exhibition.
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