Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul: More about the spectacle than the boxing

It's up to an old man to try to put things right: In an effort to put a floundering sport back on the map, 58-year-old Mike Tyson is set to make a return to boxing ring. His opponent: Jake Paul.

Jake who? While to many boxing fans the 27-year-old may remain an unknown quantity, he certainly isn't when it comes to social media. Paul has more than 27 million followers on Instagram and over 18 million on TikTok.

After initially trying his hand at acting and singing, Paul stepped into the ring for the first time in 2018 and has been fighting professionally since 2020. The influencer has won 10 of his 11 fights. However, most of the victories came against opponents who were just as inexperienced as he was. Five of them had never been in the ring before.

Paul took on Youtuber AnEson Gib in his first professional bout. The Saudi Arabian-born Brit was also making his debut at the time but has since put his boxing career on hold following just his second fight that came in 2022. Paul's next opponent was former NBA point guard Nate Robinson, who was making a one-off appearance in the boxing ring.

As a boxer, Paul's only defeat came in 2023, against someone with a well-known surname in boxing: Tommy Fury of Britain - who is the half-brother of former world boxing champion Tyson Fury.

Battle of KO specialists

By the time the better-known Fury surprisingly won his world title against Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, Tyson's last professional fight was already a decade behind him: in 2005, the American lost to Ireland's Kevin McBride by technical knockout and retired.

In 2020, the then 54-year-old Tyson returned to the ring for an exhibition fight against 51-year-old former world champion Roy Jones Jr. The fight between the retired boxers ended as a split draw after eight two-minute rounds.

The undercard included Paul's bout against Nate Robinson, in which he sent his opponent to the canvas three times. Paul has won seven of his 11 professional fights by knockout or technical knockout.

The young Mike Tyson was also famous for his outstanding punching power and was often referred to as a "street fighter" due to his boisterous nature. As an amateur, he knocked out one opponent just eight seconds into a fight. In 1986, "Iron Mike" became the youngest heavyweight world champion in boxing history at the age of 20 years and 144 days – fittingly winning the title with by knocking out Trevor Berbick. Later in his career, he also sent world-class boxers Larry Homes and Michael Spinks to the canvas.

'Baddest man on the planet'

Tyson was also regarded as the enfant terrible of boxing, calling himself the "baddest man on the planet." In 1997, he bit off a piece of his opponent Evander Holyfield's right ear in a world championship fight and was disqualified. Tyson has served time in prison for rape, as well as for assault, drunk driving, drug possession and was convicted of doping.

Despite his high fees, which amounted to around $300 million (€282 million), Tyson repeatedly got into financial difficulties, which at times led him to bankruptcy.

Money may well be the main reason why Tyson is stepping back into the ring against Paul. It's been reported that each will receive at least $40 million. Around 80,000 spectators are expected watch the fight live in Arlington, Texas.

In addition, millions of people worldwide will be following the action on their screens as Netflix will broadcast the spectacle live. The fight is being organized by the relatively new agency Most Valuable Promotions (MVP). Paul was one of two founding members of the agency in 2021. According to the promoter's website, MVP's mission is to "provide more creative control to fighters" and to "maximize return for its own events and talent partners."

"Real competition” without sporting significance

Even though Netflix claims in its trailer that this is the fight that the "world's been waiting for," its sporting value of an ageing former champion fighting a boxing influencer appears to be almost nil. However, responding to a query from the Associated Press, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation wrote "this will be a professional bout with a referee and judges and the results will count as part of the fighters' professional records. So – it's an actual competitive fight."

However, instead of the usual 10 or 12 three-minute rounds in professional fights, the bout is scheduled for just eight two-minute rounds. Tyson and Paul also won't be using standard boxing gloves, which weigh 10 ounces (283.50 grams), but 14 ounces. This should reduce the effect of the punches a bit. However, neither will be wearing head protection.

Health risks

Which of the two boxers is more at risk will probably depend primarily on Tyson. How much of his once feared punching power has he got left? Has he still got the reflexes to effectively avoid Paul's punches?

Even before Tyson's exhibition fight four years ago against Roy Jones Jr., who is just three years younger, sports doctors had warned against the two veteran boxers of getting into the ring again. As they got older, they argued, their reactions diminish and hits to the head could have even worse consequences than they had earlier in their careers.

It is not without reason that CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), a disease feared in contact sports, is also known as dementia pugilistica (boxer's dementia). In such cases, repeated shocks to the head cause the brain to slowly die. This can lead to depression, premature dementia or even premature death.

Boxing on the downturn

Netflix will almost certainly not address this issue in connection with Tyson's fight against Paul. After all, the streaming channel is interested in achieving the highest possible viewing figures – and this is currently almost impossible to achieve through regular boxing.

Amateur boxing could face exclusion from the Olympic Games. These days, professional boxing, especially in the prestigious heavyweight division, is missing superstars like Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman – or Mike Tyson.

"This is really big for me, if I win, I will be immortal," Tyson says in Netflix's trailer for the fight. "If I do bad, I don't want to die in a hospital bed, I want to die in the ring."