On March 7, 2024, Netflix announced a partnership with Most Valued Promotions to host a boxing event between YouTube personality Jake Paul and former heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson. The event is set to take place on July 20, 2024, and will be streamed globally on Netflix.
Since the initial announcement, many immediately began to criticize the event, including some major figures in the sphere of combat sports.
UFC analyst and former champion Michael Bispring posted on X slamming the announcement.
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Bisping wrote. “And the biggest joke is you don’t even slightly realize why.”
The major source of controversy surrounding the event is the age difference; Jake Paul is 27; Mike Tyson is 57. Mike Tyson is stepping out of retirement after his last professional fight in 2005. Because Tyson is 19-years retired, combined with being in his late 50s, many are calling into question the morality of the fight.
Another former UFC champion, Daniel Cormier, also made comments about the fight on his personal Youtube channel, calling the whole situation a “no-win” situation for Paul. The consensus around the possible outcomes of the fight are that Paul either embarrassingly loses to a man 30 years his senior, or “if he knocks Mike out, [Paul’s career] might be over,” as Cormier puts it.
Salem senior and UFC fan Keven Mazuera-Caro believes that there are two main reasons for the fight taking place: publicity and money.
“Jake Paul only fights old bums to pad his record to seem like a legit boxer,” Mazuera-Caro stated. “All of his wins are from people who have been retired from the fight game for years. I also believe that Tyson was given a pretty penny to fight Jake Paul because [there is] no way a 57 year-old would ever agree to fight a 27 year-old for a normal paycheck.”
Despite the controversy surrounding the event, especially concerning the age difference, both fighters say they are highly anticipating it. Tyson showed his enthusiasm by saying that he “plans to finish him” when the day comes. Until then, we can only wait to see how the next few three months before the event will unfold.
