‘Lords of the Ring’ fist fight in Texas venue

Article posted by Coliseum, March 13^th, 2024

Image: AT&T Stadium, Mahanga, CC BY-SA 3.0

Boxing fans received some knockout news recently with the announcement that the YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul would face the iconic Mike Tyson in a match.

‘DALLAS Observer’ stated that this showdown will occur on July 20^th at Arlington’s (US) AT&T Stadium and will be streamed worldwide on the streaming service Netflix.

Jake Paul is an American Internet celebrity and professional boxer. He began his career posting videos on Vine in September 2013 and had amassed 5.3 million followers and two billion views before the app discontinued. He launched his YouTube channel in May 2014.

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Michael Tyson is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed ‘Iron Mike’ and ‘Kid Dynamite’ in his early career, and later known as ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’, Tyson is regarded as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time.

The 80,000-capacity AT&T Stadium is a retractable-roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) and was completed on May 27^th, 2009.

‘DALLAS Observer’ further stated that since leaving his content creator days behind and turning to the ring, Paul, 27, has scored six knockouts while compiling a 9-1 record. In four years, he has become one of boxing’s biggest draws. ‘The Problem Child’ secured a first-round knockout over Ryan Bourland (semi-retired professional cruiserweight boxer) in Puerto Rico (unincorporated US territory) on March 2^nd.

Mike Tyson, 57, is arguably one of the greatest boxers of all time. The youngest heavyweight champion, he is known by many monikers such as ‘Kid Dynamite’, ‘Iron Mike’ and ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’. He ruled the sport in the ’80s and the ’90s as a ferocious fighter who knocked out nearly everyone he faced.

In boxing, styles make fights. Paul and Tyson are orthodox fighters. Paul is equipped with his signature overhand right, and Tyson is known for his swift, close uppercut to the nose. Both fight at approximately 200 pounds, and both athletes are celebrated for their knockout power.

After appearing in a promo video announcing the match on March 5^th, Tyson and Paul released a joint official statement together.

Paul said in the video, “It’s crazy to think that in my second pro fight, I went viral for knocking out Nate Robinson on Mike Tyson’s undercard. Now, less than four years later, I’m stepping up to face Tyson myself to see if I have what it takes to beat one of boxing’s most notorious fighters and biggest icons. Within just two and a half years of founding the Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), we’re about to produce the biggest fight in history, a fight in the biggest NFL stadium in the United States, broadcast live, on the biggest streaming platform in the world – a testament to all we’ve accomplished in such a short amount of time.”

The Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) was founded by Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian (the former Chief Strategy Officer and the Chief Financial Officer [CFO] of Ultimate Fighting Championship [UFC – an American mixed martial arts promotion company]) in 2021. With the mission to provide more creative control to the fighters, the MVP works to identify, grow and maximize returns for its own events and talent partners.

Jake also spoke of his respect for Tyson and why beating Mike Tyson is reaching final-boss level – “My sights are set on becoming a world champion, and now I have a chance to prove myself against the greatest heavyweight champion ever, the baddest man on the planet and the most dangerous boxer of all time. This will be the fight of a lifetime.”

Iron Mike said he was excited to return to the sport after watching Paul grow into a star – “I’m very much looking forward to stepping into the ring with Jake Paul at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. He’s grown significantly as a boxer over the years, so it will be a lot of fun to see what the will and ambition of a ‘kid’ can do with the experience and aptitude of a GOAT (The Greatest of All Time). It’s a full-circle moment that will be beyond thrilling to watch as I started him off on his boxing journey on the undercard of my fight with Roy Jones (American professional boxer) and now I plan to finish him.”

Paul’s upcoming fight in Arlington is expected to draw a soldout crowd, marking his return to where his superstardom began in North Texas.

Said Paul in May 2023, “This [Dallas] is where I did my first fan meet-up ever when I was 16 years old. So, it’s awesome to bring it back here and to really put on a show ’cause Texas obviously has crazy fight fans.”

This Summer’s fight follows Paul’s rowdy unanimous decision victory against the American mixed martial arts (MMA) legend Nate Diaz at the 20,000-capacity American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, in August 2023, when fights erupted everywhere among the crowd. The Paul-Diaz match also attracted the top MMA and boxing stars Francis Ngannou (Cameroonian-French mixed martial artist and professional boxer), Alycia Baumgardner (American professional boxer) and Daniel Cormier (American former mixed martial artist and amateur wrestler).

Today’s most successful fighters, including Paul, study, emulate and incorporate Tyson’s techniques as a knockout artist into their fighting style. But in the Paul-Tyson fight, Paul is the favorite at – 500, and Tyson, who might be regarded as the best fighter ever, is the underdog at +325.

The Hall-of-Fame boxer Roy Jones Jr., Tyson’s last opponent, confirmed that Iron Mike still has knockout power at 57 – “First time that dude [Tyson] hit me in the chest, it felt like a horse kicked me in the chest – I was like ‘Gosh’. I couldn’t believe he could still hit so hard. And what was more fascinating, I couldn’t believe that he was still so hard to hit. You can’t overreach with him because if you overreach, he’ll get you. And as I said, he kicks like a horse.”

The undercard and fight stipulations have yet to be announced. Tyson’s most recent fight lasted eight rounds of two minutes each, while Paul’s most recent fight was scheduled for eight rounds. This is the first of a new cross-promotion between Netflix and Jake Paul’s promotional company, Most Valuable Promotions.

The Paul-Tyson match prompted a deluge of mixed reactions online and predictions about a fight with an obvious 30-year age gap between the fighters.

But Tyson believes he can beat Paul in a boxing match. At least that’s what he told the hosts of the Full Send Podcast in 2021 when they asked him whether he’d win a fight against Paul.

“So fucking easy,” Tyson said.

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