After several months of anticipation, boxing legend Mike Tyson will step back into the ring for his first official pro bout in more than two decades when he squares off in an eight-round contest against social media star, Jake Paul this weekend for an event that will be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The streaming platform Netflix will host the fight, which was originally scheduled for July before it was postponed due to the former heavyweight champion suffering from a stomach ulcer. Tyson, as controversial as he is legendary, has seen a softening of his image in recent years, as he overcame drug addiction to tell his story as a cautionary tale in sports. The American public always enjoys a comeback story, and there was something wholesome about the youngster that came from a very turbulent background to find a level of peace in his life as an elder statesman of the boxing game.
Perhaps, that’s why the public embraced his comeback to the ring for an exhibition fight against fellow legend, Roy Jones Jr. under the Triller banner in 2020. That’s one of the stark differences between the contest four years ago and the bout that will be held on Netflix this weekend, the eight-round contest against Paul will be an officially sanctioned pro fight.
The last time “Iron” Mike had a pro match in 2003, his explosive and dynamic career throughout the previous almost twenty years concluded with a very flat finish, as the referee stopped the bout in the sixth round after Mike hit the canvas after a series of punches from the undistinguished Kevin McBride.
At 58, Tyson isn’t going to rejuvenate his boxing career, but he is reportedly set to make $20 million for the bout, which gives him a very rare second chance at financial security. Infamously, Tyson was exploited for millions of dollars by shady promoter, Don King. That, along with very furiously spending saw him squander a few hundred million dollars earned from a carrer that saw him become the youngest heavyweight champion in history when he knocked out Trevor Berbick in the second round at the age of just 20.
Within the past several years, Tyson found other work in film and television, becoming somewhat of a pop culture icon, as sports fans could fondly reflect on the accomplishments of his career rather than the turbulent circumstances of his life. Of course, with a renewed level of popularity, he’s also able to work the autograph circuit, which has become a very lucrative gig for stars of the past in sports and the entertainment business.
While Mike Tyson will use this Netflix showdown to get a hefty payday from the sport long after it should’ve been realistically possible or expected, Jake Paul seems to be using this contest to try to spark interest in his boxing exploits again to attempt to continue the paydays from the sport. Being a social media star and someone that played the role of the villain to initially generate interest, It’s no surprise that Jake Paul used sideshow tactics to get noticed, as viewers tuned into circus fights more to see him lose more than anything else. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a wise strategy and a pro wrestling tactic that has been used in other sports for decades to draw money. Make no mistake about it, a prize fight is just as much the entertainment business as it is the fight business, and in some ways, the total at the box office is all that matters.
It’s not a new concept in boxing, either. Tyson himself drew top dollar as the perceived wild man of boxing in the 90s, especially after he infamously chomped on a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear during this 1997 rematch, causing a DQ and a melee in the ring. Floyd Mayweather made a career of being the “bad guy” and carefully picked his opponents throughout most of his career to make sure he had the best chance possible to keep his undefeated streak intact. Again, the biggest selling point for the villain is that the audience is willing to pay to see them lose, and once that loss happens there will be diminished returns. For example, Adrien Broner tried to be a dollar store version of Floyd’s heel persona to attempt to replicate his success, but a few key losses to the upper-tier of the welterweight division hindered Broner’s profile considerable. He lost a unanimous decision to the mostly unknown Blair Cobbs this past June and it went under the radar of most sports news.
In a similar fashion, Jake Paul finds himself at somewhat of a crossroads in his athletic endeavors, as every fight he had from the time that he started to pursue boxing in 2020 had a novelty aspect, and that was only going to be a draw for so long until the audience wouldn’t be willing to pay to see the sideshow opponents. So, Paul had to move up to at least decent competition before the interest in his boxing career dwindled. He knocked out basketball player Nate Robinson, and the crowd was willing to watch the circus for the entertainment value. He knocked out the bloated Ben Askren, a former MMA fighter that was there just for the payday since he couldn’t be competitive in the UFC anymore. He beat an aging Tryon Woodley twice, but it’s more or less agreed upon that Woodley was completely past his prime. The same could be said for his decision win over former UFC middleweight king, Anderson Silva.
Every fight had a novelty to it that gave an inherit advantage to Paul, which is wise on his part to try to leech as much money from the carnival fights as he could, but as mentioned, the novelty fights have a limited draw so he finally took a fight against an actual pro boxer, Tommy Fury. Fury’s only claim to fame was that he’s the younger brother of undisputed heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury. Tommy had less than ten pro bouts against competition that nobody had ever heard of before he stepped into the ring with Paul, who took the fight more because of the associations with the name Fury than anything else.
Tommy Fury won an eight-round split decision, and in many ways, the bloom was off the rose so to speak on the boxing career of Jake Paul. He lost and the defeat was at the hands of a mediocre pro fighter, not anyone with any name value in the sport beyond sharing a last name with the heavyweight champion. He went back to the MMA formula when he beat an older Nick Diaz before he defeated the completely unknown Andre August and then Ryan Bourland. He beat former MMA fighter Mike Perry earlier this year, but Perry’s lack of name value, especially compared to his other opponents that were known from MMA, didn’t capture much hype before the fight.
Make no mistake about it, even at 58, Mike Tyson is the draw for this fight at Cowboys stadium. Jake Paul isn’t drawing that type of crowd with Andre August or Mike Perry. The selling point is Tyson back in the ring for a pro fight, nothing else, as the draw to see Jake Paul lose is minimal since he already lost to Tommy Fury last year. However, the promotion that Paul can bring to the fight is his “value” to the scenario.
As far as a winner, I really think it depends on the mindset of “Iron” Mike by the time that he steps into the ring. If he thinks back to the days of Cus D’Amato in the Catskills then Paul might hit the canvas by the second round. If Mike is just happy to make $20 and wants to get through the fight without getting injured, it’s very possible that Jake Paul coasts to an underwhelming decision victory. That said, as much as this is still a total novelty fight because Paul is less than half of the age of the former heavyweight champion, it could still be a fun spectacle. Obviously, if Jake Paul loses to someone twice his age, it’s difficult to image that his boxing career could continue to be lucrative or taken seriously in any fashion, but given the major cash that he’s going to make for the bout, the result might be secondary for him.
I’ll pick Tyson to get the win, but the biggest takeaway from this fight might be that it could open the door for more boxing on Netflix, a platform that might have the capital and the distribution to rejuvenate the sport.
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Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
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