This is the American dream of the 21st century. At 27, Jake Paul has climbed the ranks of fame to become one of the most followed stars on social media. And the boxer should gain a few more followers during his fight against Mike Tyson, scheduled for the night of Friday November 15 to Saturday November 16 on the Netflix platform. A chance, or not, for this child of the 90s, a period when the Tiger, aged 58 today, shriveled his opponents.
An explosion on the Vine platform
The 2010s saw the explosion of social networks. YouTube first, but also Vine, launched in 2012 and abandoned in 2015, where six-second videos were broadcast. On it, Jake Paul and his brother Logan published videos viewed billions of times. Their popularity is exploding. The two men now share the ring. Jake's boxing, Logan's wrestling.
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After gaining popularity, Jake Paul launched into professional boxing in 2018 after a failed interlude at Disneywhich he ends up leaving through the back door following malicious actions. His first fights pitted him against some of his colleagues at YoutubeDeji Olatunji and AnEsonGib, for two easy victories.
Successes which struggle to convince the broad public of the noble art. And it’s certainly not the fight against Nate Robinson in November 2020 that will help. Jake Paul towers over former NBA player. Problem, Robinson's level is so laughable that it is difficult to see anything serious in it.
Winner of UFC stars and Tyson Fury's brother
In search of legitimacy, the real sinews of war, the boxer wants to tackle bigger fish. At this point, it is difficult to determine whether it is to be taken seriously. Because his technique is still very imperfect and the defeated opponents do not allow him, still to this day, to appear in the world rankings. But it remains a physical machine, with enormous popularity, which wins.
In December 2020, the year of COVID, which he described as « farce » before organizing clandestine parties, Jake Paul surprises by knocking out Ben Askren, a Bellator champion. In 2021, he defeated former UFC champion Tyron Woodley twice. Victories against MMA specialists and not boxing specialists. His rating grew further, despite everything, when he defeated Tommy Fury, Tyson's brother, in 2022.
These are still victories but they don't impress anyone. In 2023, he won a fight against a real professional boxer, Andre August, then another in 2024, Ryan Bourland. Still not enough, however, to deserve a place in the ranking.
With this fight against Mike Tyson, Jake Paul offers himself an opportunity, dreamed of on paper, to demonstrate his boxing talents. At best, he will beat a 58-year-old man who, whatever he says and despite all the communication in the world, looks his age. At worst, he can take a beating against this same boxer who has retired since 2005 despite a duel against Roy Jones Jr in 2020, who, in addition, planted the joint to give him a beating.
