Friday, November 15, barring a last-minute injury, the fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson will indeed take place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The extravagant home of the Dallas Cowboys will be the scene of this fight broadcast live on Netflix in what will be a first large-scale attempt for the streaming platform.
Tyson, at 58, will put on the gloves for the first time in a sanctioned fight since 2005. At the time, the former heavyweight champion was on a bad streak at the end of his career and he had suffered a third defeat in four fights, this time against Kevin McBride.
Retired from the ring since, with the exception of a few exhibitions, the polarizing “Iron Mike” accepted the challenge of the exuberant “Problem Child” even though he is 31 years younger than him.
The fight attracted a lot of attention since it was originally supposed to take place this summer, but health problems in training forced Tyson to postpone the adventure.
As we are in the official week of promotion of the fight, with the bonus of a documentary on Netflix to pique people’s interest, concrete information is circulating more and more on the content of this fight and one thing quickly jumps out: The business will be very lucrative for both men.
According to Henry Cejudo, two-time UFC champion and close friend of Tyson, the former heavyweight champion will collect a purse of at least $20 million to come out of retirement, not counting the bet of an additional $5 million launched. by Paul who wants to see Tyson stand on his feet for more than four rounds.
At 58 years old, that’s a very impressive sum for a fight that will have no championship attached. This is also why the regulations can be a little different as no sanctioned championship is defended.
For this heavyweight duel, we are talking about eight rounds of 2 minutes instead of the usual 3 minutes. 14 oz gloves will also be used unlike the 12 oz gloves normally used among heavyweights.
Historically, while he dominated the world boxing scene, Tyson made bigger purses than this one. But $25 million would easily crack the top 10 of his highest-paying fights. At 58 years old, almost twenty after his retirement, it’s still a big blow.
Jake Paul, who also carries the champion promoter for this event with his company, would pocket at least $40 million to stand in front of the former heavyweight monarch. At least, that’s what he said in August during a press conference.
“I’m here to pocket $40 million and knock out a legend,” he said with his usual arrogance. I don’t care about anything else. »
The young entrepreneur also claims that ticket sales have surpassed those of any other boxing card presented in the United States outside of Las Vegas.
The card will also feature a women’s championship between Katie and Amando Serrano in addition to fights between Neeraj Goyat and Whindersson Nunes and Mario Barios against Abel Ramos.
