Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson is set to return to the ring to fight YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in a bout that will be streamed live on Netflix.
Tyson and Paul are set to duke it at the 80,000 capacity AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, on July 20.
The fight is organised by Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), which was set up by Paul and Nakisa Bidarian.
The July bout will not be the first time Paul and Tyson have appeared on a boxing card together. Paul fought former NBA star Nate Robinson on the undercard of Tyson’s fight against Roy Jones Jr in November 2020, which was Tyson’s first boxing match since 2006.
Paul, who owns a 9-1 record since turning pro in January 2020, defeated Robinson via knockout in the second round in what was his second professional boxing match.
It’s crazy to think that in my second pro fight, I went viral for knocking out Nate Robinson on Mike Tyson’s undercard. Now, less than four years later, I’m stepping up to face Tyson myself to see if I have what it takes to beat one of boxing’s most notorious fighters and biggest icons, Paul said in a statement.
Within just two and a half years of founding MVP, we’re about to produce the biggest fight in history, a fight in the biggest NFL stadium in the US, broadcast live, on the biggest streaming platform in the world – a testament to all we’ve accomplished in such a short amount of time.
My sights are set on becoming a world champion, and now I have a chance to prove myself against the greatest heavyweight champion ever, the baddest man on the planet and the most dangerous boxer of all time. This will be the fight of a lifetime.
57-year-old Tyson, the legendary former undisputed world heavyweight champion, is arguably the biggest star the sport of boxing has ever seen.
His explosive power and ferocious fighting style led to a staggering run of 37 consecutive victories, with 33 of those wins coming by knockout.
I’m very much looking forward to stepping into the ring with Jake Paul, said Tyson.
He’s 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.
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.
The bout marks Netflix’s first foray into the world of combat sports and the streamer’s third live sporting event overall.
Netflix recently streamed The Netflix Cup, a one-off television event featuring athletes from Formula 1: Drive to Survive and golf doc series Full Swing in an 18-hole match-play tournament, and earlier this month aired The Netflix Slam, a live match between Spanish tennis stars Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.
