YouTuber Paul to fight ex-champion Tyson

YouTuber Jake Paul will face former world champion Mike Tyson in a boxing match on 20 July.

It is unclear if it will be an official fight or an exhibition bout, but it will be staged in Texas and broadcast live on streaming platform Netflix.

Paul, 27, beat Ryan Bourland in his 10th professional fight last Saturday.

Tyson, whose professional career ended in 2005, had his most recent exhibition bout in 2020 and will turn 58 three weeks before facing Paul.

He made a blistering start to his professional career to become the youngest heavyweight champion in history at 20, when he beat Trevor Berbick in his first title fight in November 1986.

That was his 28th professional fight since making his debut in March 1985 aged 18 – and he won 26 of them by knockout.

Paul said on X: “My sights are set on becoming a world champion, and now I have a chance to prove myself against the greatest heavyweight champion of the world, the worst man on the planet and the most dangerous boxer of all time. Time to put Iron Mike to sleep.”

Tyson was the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles in 1987 but his reign as unified champion came to a shock end in 1990 as he was beaten by Buster Douglas in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.

Although he briefly regained the WBA and WBC titles in 1996, he then suffered back-to-back defeats to Evander Holyfield – the second ending as Tyson was disqualified for biting part of Holyfield’s ear off.

Tyson’s legal issues have included a conviction of rape in 1992, serving three years of a six-year prison sentence, and in 1999 he served a third of a 12-month sentence, external for a road rage assault.

He got back into shape to play his part in an engaging draw with fellow former world champion Roy Jones Jr in 2020, and his fight with Paul will take place in Arlington’s AT&T Stadium, home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, which has a seating capacity of 80,000.

Paul has won nine of his 10 boxing fights, mostly against ex-UFC fighters, with his solitary defeat coming against British heavyweight Tommy Fury in February 2023.