The girls are fighting—and by girls, we do mean ex-heavyweight champion of the world Mike Tyson and former Disney Channel star turned YouTuber turned professional boxer Jake Paul. Yes, Tyson and Paul are set to square off in an epic boxing match that will stream live on Netflix on Friday, November 15 at 8 p.m. ET. For those confused as to why, exactly, a 58-year-old former professional athlete is squaring up against a 27-year-old bad-boy influencer, we’ve broken down every question you may have headed into the boxing event of the season: Paul vs. Tyson.
Who is Jake Paul again? Doesn’t he have a brother?
Well, yes. Jake and his elder brother, Logan, have been public figures since they were teens. The Ohio natives began their career in 2013 on the now-defunct social media platform Vine before transitioning to YouTube and amassing a following as professional pranksters. Eventually, they garnered the attention of Disney Channel, which cast Jake as Dirk Mann, a vlogging teen who would accept dare requests on the series on the series Bizaardvark. Fun fact: The 2016 series also starred a young Olivia Rodrigo. (In another bit of art imitating life, Logan was cast as Dirk’s older brother.) Jake abruptly left the show in 2017, and since then, he’s left acting behind and gone full tilt into being an influencer. As of now, Jake Paul has 20.8 million subscribers on YouTube, 27.2 million followers on Instagram, and 18.2 million followers on TikTok.
So, when did Jake become a boxer?
Gradually, over time. Paul first stepped into the ring for a white-collar match (read: nonprofessional, no experience required) against English YouTuber Deji Olatunji. (Logan also fought Olatunji’s older brother, KSI, at the event.) After winning by technical knockout in the fifth round, Paul went all-in on boxing and made his professional debut in 2020 against YouTuber AnEsonGib, a.k.a. Ali Al-Fakhri. He also won that bout via technical knockout in the first round. Having proven his bona fides, “The Problem Child” Paul was off to the races. He currently holds a professional record of 10-1.
Outside of the ring, Paul is no stranger to controversy. He’s been causing a ruckus since his Bizaardvark days, filming increasingly envelope-pushing YouTube videos in which he sets mattresses aflame and eats pasta off the end of a power drill. (Jake did not, however, post a vlog that featured an apparent suicide victim in a Japanese forest; that was his brother.) He called coronavirus a “hoax” and held parties at his Calabasas mansion during lockdown, drawing ire from the city’s mayor at the time. (He’s since relocated to Puerto Rico.) In 2021, a TikTok influencer named Justine Paradise accused Paul of sexual assault. Paul denied the allegation in a statement he released at the time, writing, “This claim made against me is 100% false.”
That same year, Paul’s home was raided by the FBI after he was charged with misdemeanors for entering a mall in Scottsdale, Arizona, while it was being looted. (Paul denied any involvement in looting or vandalism at the mall. The charges were dropped, and the raid did not result in any federal charges.) He’s been an avowed Trump supporter, and his brother interviewed the president-elect on his podcast, Impaulsive, ahead of the election.
Okay then! Isn’t Mike Tyson a little old to be doing this?
You could say that. The 58-year-old has been out of the professional ring since 2005, when he retired with a 50-6 record. During his career from 1985 to 2005, Tyson was more than a force to be reckoned with: He won his first 19 fights by knockout (12 of them in the first round). In 1987, he became the youngest boxer ever to win the heavyweight title at just 20 years old. “Iron Mike” would hold onto the title of undisputed heavyweight champion from 1987 until 1990, when he was knocked out by Buster Douglas in a massive upset.
Like Paul, Tyson has weathered his fair share of controversy both in and out of the ring. On February 10, 1992, Tyson was convicted of raping 18-year-old beauty pageant contestant Desiree Washington in a hotel room in Indianapolis and was sentenced to six years in prison. Tyson was released from prison on parole after three years and made his way back into the ring, regaining the heavyweight champion title in 1996. He would lose the title shortly after, losing a boxing match to Evander Holyfield. The two would square off again the following year in a fight that would see Tyson disqualified for biting Holyfield’s ear with such ferocity that he actually bit part of it off.
Yikes. So, what’s Tyson been up to the past 19 years?
An immense cultural figure, Tyson has somehow remained in the public consciousness. Known as much for his distinctive speaking voice and lisp as his right uppercut, Tyson played a fictionalized version of himself in 2009’s The Hangover opposite Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, and Ed Helms. The bit part thrust him—and his iconic face tattoo—back into the zeitgeist. In November of 2013, Tyson released an autobiography, Undisputed Truth, which made the New York Times bestseller list. Earlier this month, President-elect Donald Trump went on a rant about what a great guy Tyson was, and suggested that the former heavyweight champ get “in the ring” with his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.
In reality, Tyson has never entirely left the ring. He’s fought in exhibition bouts since his professional retirement, most recently with another aging boxer, Roy Jones Jr., in a fight that ended in a split draw. He has also faced other sexual assault allegations—just last year, a woman filed a lawsuit accusing Tyson of raping her in a limousine in the 1990s. In a statement, Tyson’s representatives said the boxer “does not know this woman and looks forward to his day in court where this meritless bad faith claim will be dismissed.”
Friday’s matchup against Paul will mark Tyson’s first professional match since his retirement, and will count toward each boxer’s official record. Their 31-year age gap will be the largest age difference in professional boxing history.
Wait, wasn’t this fight supposed to have happened already?
It was. The fight was originally supposed to take place this past summer, on July 20, but had to be postponed after Tyson suffered an ulcer flare-up aboard a plane. Time will tell if that ulcer flare-up was an omen for the middle-aged boxer.
So, when’s the new fight scheduled?
The fight was rescheduled for November 15 at 8 p.m. ET and will take place at the Dallas Cowboys AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Tyson vs. Paul is one of seven contests happening that evening (including three that have a world title on the line!), so it’s unclear exactly when the two will step into the ring. Netflix will be live-streaming the full fight card (a.k.a. all the scheduled fights) beginning at 8 p.m. Grab your popcorn.
Is Netflix doing anything in the lead-up to the fight?
Of course they are! You can watch Countdown: Paul vs. Tyson, a doc that follows both fighters as they prepare for the big day, on Netflix right now, if you’d like.
So…who’s gonna win?
If you believe Vegas, you’d be going with the young gun. According to CBS Sports, Paul has the advantage in the betting world, he’s the -205 favorite (a.k.a. risk $205 to win $100) to win, and Tyson is a +168 underdog, as of the day before the fight. But it’s important to remember that, no matter who wins, when a convicted rapist and a MAGA bro can garner this much attention, I think it’s safe to say that we all lose.
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