This is the event awaited by combat sports fans this weekend. The 58-year-old American boxer and multiple heavyweight world champion, Mike Tyson, will face Jake Paul, 31 years his junior, on the night of Friday November 15 to Saturday November 16 (around two a.m.), at AT&T Stadium of Arlington, in Dallas (Texas), a stadium with around 80,000 seats.
The fight will be broadcast live on the Netflix streaming platform, and accessible to all its subscribers, i.e. 270 million households, in addition to a documentary series on the preparation of the protagonists, entitled Countdown: Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson. Ahead of the fight, franceinfo: sport presents the opponent of the legend Mike Tyson.
A YouTuber who became a boxer
Jake Paul originally didn't come from the boxing world. The 27-year-old American, originally from Ohio, first became known on Vine (a short video sharing application) in 2013. Two years later, he got a role in the Disney Channel sitcom Frankie and Paige. But he is sidelined because of his strong temperament, racist remarks and a dispute with his neighbors who threaten to file a complaint – and therefore tarnish the Disney brand – for neighborhood disturbances.
He then created a Youtube channel where he features himself in videos humorous with his brother Logan, also a successful YouTuber and now a boxing fighter (he faced Floyd Mayweather) and wrestling. Jake Paul then branched out into boxing and oriented his channel towards this sport, an area which has been successful for him since 2018 and which today brings together more than 20 million subscribers.
Controversies and provocations
On Youtube, Logan and Jake Paul place themselves in the polemic niche, each on their own, through vlogs (video blogs recounting daily life). Logan, the older brother, even went so far as to publish a video in December 2017 featuring him near a corpse in the “suicide forest” Aokighara, Japan. They also play on a fratricidal rivalry and stage each other's traps.
For his part, Jake is not left out. Voluntarily playing on his detestable side, deliberately provocative and divisive, this supporter of Donald Trump accumulates escapades. In 2020, he organized a big party in the middle of Covid-19, which he considers to be a “hoax” (prank). A few months earlier, he was filmed vandalizing a shopping center in Arizona during protests after the death of George Floyd. He had been charged with criminal trespass and unlawful assembly.
During a search in connection with this affair, a few months later, firearms were found in his home. In 2021, he was also twice accused of sexual assault. He was also accused of driving a car on a protected beach in Puerto Rico.
“The Enfant terrible of boxing” and “The Perturbator”
Since his highly publicized debut in boxing, Jake Paul has stood out in the rings. Quickly, he won his fights against former MMA champions, like Tyron Woodley or Anderson Silva, two former UFC middleweight champions, but also non-professional fighters, like former NBA star, Nate Robinson.
Since his first fight, on January 30, 2020 in Miami against YouTuber Gib, he has ten victories, including 7 KOs, for one defeat. Since then, he has been nicknamed “L“Disruptor” or even “The Enfant Terrible of Boxing”.
A legitimacy called into question by its peers
If Jake Paul says he is very confident for the upcoming fight, thinking he will be “faster”, “stronger” than Mike Tyson who “will not see where the blows will come from” according to him, however, it is far from unanimous, particularly among his peers. The latter believe that Jake Paul chooses opponents “easy to beat”, at the end of their career or retired, or coming from disciplines other than English boxing, which gives them a considerable advantage.
Some believe that this fight is already a foregone conclusion, a common refrain during Jake Paul fights. “I'm sure if Tyson managed to land a big left or right on Jake Paul's chin, he could knock him unconscious. I don't really see how that could happen, though. In my opinion, everything is settled in advance for Paul and Tyson will not have the opportunity to do it”estimates former world champion Carl Froch to Metro.
To respond to his detractors, Jake Paul plays the provocation card on his social networks. His only defeat (on points) dates back to 2023 against boxer Tommy Fury, half-brother of another heavyweight legend, Tyson Fury. However, his legitimacy was recognized this summer during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where he was chosen as a training partner for the American team's boxing team. A team he would like to join for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, where he “voured to win the gold medal”.
