The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations has declared the July 20 battle between former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson and YouTuber-turned-prizefighter Jake Paul to be a sanctioned, professional fight.
Nakisa Bidarian, a co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions, said ESPN in a statement,
“Mike Tyson and Jake Paul signed on to fight each other with the desire to do so in a sanctioned professional fight that would have a definitive outcome,” “Over the past six weeks, MVP has worked with its partners to satisfy the requirements of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations (TDLR) to sanction Paul vs. Tyson, and we are grateful that we have gotten to this point.”
Ever since the event’s announcement, there have been a lot of worries about the regulations because the two fighters are over thirty years apart in age. The battle will take place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and will be streamed on Netflix.
Mike Tyson’s much awaited comeback
Tyson,57, defeated Clifford Etienne via knockout in February 2003, but he hasn’t triumphed in a professional boxing battle since. After earning his 50th victory, he engaged in two professional fights, but was defeated by Kevin McBride in 2005 and Danny Williams in 2004.
Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs) will be 58 years old when he steps into the ring on July 20. Paul is about to be 27.
Since he was 38, Tyson has not engaged in professional competition. He faced Roy Jones Jr. in an eight-round exhibition fight in 2020. Although the fight resulted in a split draw and did not count against Tyson’s professional record, he performed better than expected.
On Tyson-Jones’ undercard, Paul defeated former NBA player Nate Robinson, sparking his unexpected breakthrough in combat sports. Since then, with the recent surge of crossover boxing bouts, Paul (9-1, 6 KOs) has established himself as a mainstay in high-profile events. His victories have come against former UFC stars Tyron Woodley, Ben Askren, Anderson Silva, and Nate Diaz.
This fight will be Netflix’s third live athletic event overall and its first venture into combat sports.