Posted on: November 15, 2024, 09:15h.
Last updated on: November 15, 2024, 10:14h.
Jake Paul and Mike Tyson are expected to walk into AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, at around 11 p.m. EST on Friday where the 27-year-old social media star turned actor and boxer will fight the 58-year-old former undisputed heavyweight champion boxer of the world.
Since Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) announced the fight with Tyson in March, many concerns have been raised about the fight’s integrity. Originally scheduled for July, the bout was delayed until tonight after Tyson suffered an ulcer flareup.
Tyson hasn’t fought professionally since June 5, 2005, when he quit after the sixth round in a close bout against Kevin McBride. Tyson conceded afterward that he agreed to the fight for a payday and didn’t expect to win.
I do not have the guts to be in this sport anymore,” Tyson said at the time. “I don’t want to disrespect the sport that I love. My heart is not into this anymore. I’m sorry for the fans who paid for this.”
Tyson’s professional career ended with a record of 50-6, with 44 wins by knockout.
Nearly 20 years later, we are to believe that Tyson’s heart has returned to the sport and he’s supposedly ready and eager to compete against an up-and-coming professional boxer 31 years his junior.
Boxing or WWE?
MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian rejects allegations that Friday night’s fight is scripted or purely for entertainment.
Forget about lying; there’s no reason for us to create a federal fraud, a federal crime. These are pro fights that consumers are making legal bets on. I don’t think the critic who says these are not real fights, thinks about there would be jail time if we actually did this type of stuff,” Bidarian asserted.
Thursday’s weigh-in did little to calm concerns about the fight being predetermined. After coming face to face, Tyson did something he hadn’t previously done in his illustrious boxing career — slap his opponent.
Some states aren’t buying what Paul and Tyson are selling. Despite the fight being sanctioned by state agencies in Texas, nine state gaming regulators have opted to prohibit their licensed sportsbooks from taking action on the contest.
No legal Tyson-Paul bets are being accepted in Colorado, Connecticut, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, Pennsylvania, or Vermont.
Nevada gaming officials said the Tyson-Paul fight passed its “three-prong test” for sports betting inclusion. The gaming regulators in the nine banned states said it didn’t.
A top official at WWE recently said the entertainment wrestling league is no longer pursuing sports betting inclusion.
“We’re scripted,” said Mark Shapiro, chief operating officer of TKO Group Holdings, the parent entity of the WWE. “ We’re not going to be asking Triple H, Paul Levesque, who runs our creative, to keep his scripts so under wrap that we can start sports betting.”
Protecting Tyson
Tyson’s age presents heightened concerns for his safety, which is why the fight will be contested with 14-ounce gloves instead of the standard 10-ounce gloves used for heavyweight fights. The heavier gloves provide more cushioning to absorb blows and slightly slow down a fighter’s blows.
Despite being retired for almost two decades, Tyson remains one of the sport’s most popular stars after overhauling his image — a previously damaged reputation that included a 1991 rape conviction, and Tyson vs. Holyfield II in 1997 in which he bit a piece of Evander Holyfield’s right ear off. Many boxing purists don’t want Tyson’s comeback to end in embarrassment against a YouTube star.
Paul and MVP claim Friday night’s spectacle is a true fight. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and the Texas Athletic Commission are sanctioning the fight, and three state-licensed boxing judges will score the outcome.
That doesn’t mean the outcome hasn’t already been predetermined. There are rumblings around the boxing world that this is little more than an exhibition match, a made-for-entertainment boxing match billed as a pro event. After all, everyone involved will come out a financial winner no matter the outcome inside the ropes.
Netflix is expected to field new subscribers to stream the event. With over 60K tickets sold for over $15 million, the Paul vs. Tyson fight is already the richest gate in boxing history outside of Las Vegas.
Paul is projected to receive $40 million for the fight, and Tyson $21 million. Tyson, who declared bankruptcy in 2003, claims he isn’t fighting for the money.
