Jake Paul and Mike Tyson face off in a boxing event unlike any other

By Jonny Velasquez, CNN

(CNN) — Love him or hate him, the world continues to watch Jake Paul, the former YouTuber and Disney star who has taken over social media since his switch to boxing in 2020.

The 27-year-old has accumulated a professional 10-1 record, with six wins coming by way of knockout. On Friday, Paul steps into the ring for perhaps his most high-profile fight to date against former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.

“I think I will knock him out in the fifth or sixth round,” Paul said in an interview with CNN. “I love Mike, but I have to handle business.”

The pair were originally scheduled to fight in July this year, but it was postponed when Tyson experienced an ulcer flare up on a flight.

Friday’s bout at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will begin at 5:30 p.m. ET and take place over eight rounds of two minutes. It will be free to watch with a Netflix subscription.

Although Paul is slightly favored to win, the combat sports community has been divided over the idea of the fight. For one, Eddie Hearn, the Matchroom CEO and one of the biggest promotors in the sport, has been heavily critical.

“He (Tyson) is 58 years old,” Hearn told Fight Hub TV, adding: “I find it very sad, but it’s a big event. I understand people are going to watch it. It’s entertainment, I guess, but for someone who idolized the guy growing up, not the best day.”

British promoter Hearn represents boxing superstars Canelo Álvarez, Oleksandr Usyk and Dmitry Bivol. He also represents Katie Taylor, who is fighting on the undercard for Paul vs. Tyson.

On the other hand, former heavyweight world champion and one of Hearn’s clients, Anthony Joshua, has a very different opinion about the fight.

“I personally think it’s really good,” Joshua said on the Jonathan Ross Show. “I think that the boxing hardcores, the boxing fanatics, they don’t like it because it’s like, ‘Why are they disrespecting our sport?’

“Let’s say we divided this crowd in half, and you have half of the people that are hardcore boxing fans, and half of the people that love a certain YouTuber, but that person brings all these people into boxing, which benefits everyone else that’s involved in the industry,” Joshua continued.

Criticism has also been leveled at Paul over the age gap with Tyson. At the time of the fight, Tyson will be 31 years older than Paul.

Although Tyson is the more experienced fighter, it has been decades since his reign in the ring. Paul, meanwhile, is entering his physical prime when it comes to age.

Speaking to CNN, the former YouTuber said that his dream is to become a boxing world champion, but does fighting Tyson aged 58 help or hurt him on that quest?

“I think it helps going in there with one of the most ruthless and vicious champions there’s ever been and getting that experience under my belt,” Paul explained.

“To be able to have a camp and go in there under the bright lights against one of the greatest to ever do it will only help my experience level,” he continued. “As I continue to improve behind the scenes in each camp, the more time I get in the sport, the more deadly I become.”

In his professional career, Tyson was known for his brutal knockouts, winning in emphatic fashion against legends such as Michael Spinks and Larry Holmes. His last professional victory was in February 2003 when he defeated Clifford Etienne with a first-round knockout. His last fight was an exhibition bout against Roy Jones Jr. in November 2020, which finished as a draw.

Tyson has released training videos ahead of the Paul fight, and despite his age, the former heavyweight champion looks in top form.

“I’m really not (nervous),” Paul said. “I believe in my skill. I’ve improved tenfold in all aspects of my game. I think heavyweights are slow. They don’t have a ton of boxing ability, and they can’t get out of the way of punches.

“In there, I will be outboxing Mike. He’s not going to be able to hit me because I’m not going to sit there like a lot of these heavyweights did throughout his career and try to exchange blows with him.”

Paul reiterated some of his criticism of Tyson at the weigh-in on Thursday. As the pair stared each other down, the 58-year-old threw an open-handed slap which connected with Paul’s face.

“I didn’t even feel it,” Paul told Ariel Helwani moments later after the fighters had been separated by security. “He’s angry. He’s an angry little elf. Mike Tyson, I thought that was a cute slap, buddy, but tomorrow you’re getting knocked the f*ck out.

Paul is a polarizing figure online, used to receiving both positive and negative reactions to his behavior on social media.

“It drives me. I love proving people wrong,” he said. “I think sometimes my confidence comes across as arrogant and cocky, this guy thinks he knows it all, but it simply comes back to confidence and me believing in myself.

“When you do that in today’s society that’s full of losers and sheep, they’re just going to label you as the bad guy, and single you out, and want to see you fail,” Paul continued.

“That’s where I’ve become abrasive and have drawn a lot of criticism online. What’s funny about the whole entire thing is that it never happens in person. In person, it’s love everywhere I go. Thousands of people. Thousands of pictures. I can’t go literally anywhere.”

An unusual boxing journey

Paul had an unconventional introduction to boxing, which he said started “as a whole YouTube extravaganza” of people challenging him and his brother Logan. Soon, they found themselves “training like professionals” in preparation for big fights.

“The feeling of winning in front of 30,000 people saying, ‘F*ck Jake Paul’ – that was such a great feeling,” Paul said. “I was slowly falling in love with the sport.”

In January 2020, Paul entered the ring for his first professional fight, beating YouTuber Ali Eson Gib by technical knockout. Since his debut, he has gone on to defeat retired basketball player Nate Robinson and former MMA legends Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva and Nate Diaz.

In February last year, Paul suffered his first loss at the hands of Tommy Fury, the younger brother of former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. Although Paul scored a knockdown, Fury defeated him with a split decision victory.

Paul bounced back from the loss with a unanimous decision win over retired UFC fighter Diaz. In his past few fights, he defeated professional boxers Andre August and Ryan Borland, both by first-round knockout.

After the postponement of their initial fight in July, Paul went on to defeat bare-knuckle boxing champion Mike Perry with a sixth round TKO.

As well as his exploits in the ring, Paul has also started his own production company alongside Nakisa Bidarian, who previously served as CFO to the UFC. Most Valuable Promotions has since signed one of the biggest names in women’s boxing in Puerto Rican star Amanda Serrano, who will be contesting a rematch against Irish fighter Taylor on Friday.

Serrano was seen by Bidarian as “that perfect vehicle, perfect athlete, perfect superstar in the making” when signed to Most Valuable Promotions.

“(The company) was really based on three things,” Bidarian told CNN. “One with the mindset of fighters first … Two was wanting to double down on women … Third was wanting to give boxers a platform.”

How far can he go?

As for his goals beyond the fight with Tyson, Paul wants to challenge for a boxing world championship, intending to fight in the cruiserweight division, as well as a match against one of the sport’s biggest stars.

“Becoming world champion (in boxing) is first on that list,” he said. “I believe once I have that belt, Canelo (Álvarez) will want to fight me.

“Just to see the looks on everyone’s faces when I knock Canelo out for the first time in his career, the disappointment from all of his fans will be hilarious,” Paul continued. “Then, I’d retire after that.”

After winning a boxing world championship, Paul plans to take his talents to mixed martial arts. He hopes to become the first two-sport combat champion.

“I want to be the first double sport champ,” Paul said. “(I want to) move to MMA and get a world championship belt in MMA.

“I think it is so much easier than boxing,” he added. “MMA fighters have terrible cardio, slow pace, terrible striking, their wrestling is mediocre.”

Come Friday’s fight, such bold claims about his boxing career will be put to one side momentarily as Paul takes on one of the most fearsome fighters the sport has ever seen.

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