Netflix's second installment of Countdown: Paul vs Tyson, which prefaces Mike Tyson and Jake Paul's much-anticipated boxing match on November 15, peers into both boxer's camps as they prepare to fight. The contest has caught the public's imagination, pitching a 58-year-old legend of the sport against a 27-year-old YouTuber who has crossed over into the boxing arena having conquered social media. Boxing Hall-of-Famer and erstwhile actor Tyson is an ex-heavyweight champion of the world, with a legitimate claim to have been the sport's most visible and controversial figure of the last 30 years.
Jake Paul is no less controversial, even if his boxing credentials are questionable. The bout's central theme is whether Tyson can turn back the clock and recover some of his old vim and verve, or will his advanced years catch up with him. In some ways, the fight represents uncharted territory: boxers' careers are usually over by age 40, and whilst some will engage in exhibition fights (Tyson himself tiptoed around with fellow legend Roy Jones Junior in 2020), a competitive fight for a 58-year-old is unheard of. Tyson's boxing career proper was over at age 38 when he was knocked out by journeyman Kevin McBride in 2005.
Jake Paul Was In The Entertainment Industry Before Becoming A Boxer
Paul Had 10 Million Subscribers At 17
Paul's social media empire caught fire on Vine in 2013, when, with brother Logan, his eclectic mix of pranks and shock videos took the site by storm. After Vine collapsed in 2017, he moved to YouTube, where his enhanced profile exploded, so that by the age of 17 he was posting to more than 10 million subscribers. His brand of disruptive and risky behavior, public feuds, and on-the-edge antics, generated attention and clicks but also brought him criticism and public rancor.
He took his fame and financial clout to a new level in 2016 by launching Team 10, a cooperative of online influencers that pooled their resources to amplify their collective reach. As a result, Paul branched out into music, merchandising, and finally, by leveraging his many public feuds, into a boxing brand. Most Valuable Promotions was born, pitching online personalities and minor celebrities against each other in the boxing ring. He discovered that the public had a huge appetite for such entertainment, generating enormous pay-per-view returns, and began his journey to become a professional fighter.
Jake Paul Became A Professional Boxer In 2020
Paul Lost His First Fight Against A Pro Boxer
After one unsanctioned bout, in which he beat fellow influencer Ali Eson Gib, Paul embarked on a series of contests against MMA fighters making their boxing debuts. Characterized by pre-fight pressers and promotional events during which Paul and his opponents slung nefarious insults and mock flare-ups, the events arguably owed more to professional wrestling than to boxing, both in and out of the ring. Regardless, Paul kept winning and began to consider that he might have a future as a proper professional. Boxing aficionados scoffed at that idea, begging him to prove himself against a real boxer.
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Paul answered that call in February 2023, when he took on Tommy Fury, a novice professional whose reputation owed more to the genes he shares with former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury than to his ability in the ring. Nevertheless, he was unbeaten in eight pro fights when the pair met in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, and beat Paul to a close decision. The novice bout generated more than $25 million, a sum eyed jealously by top-level professional boxers who could only dream of such purses.
How Jake Paul's Boxing Career Has Turned Out
Paul Says He Wants To Fight Boxing's Best
Undeterred by the loss, Paul returned to MMA for his next opponent, Nate Diaz, in August 2023, before beating two professional boxers with sketchy records - Andre August and Ryan Bourland - after which he began calling out the sport's big names. Notables such as Canelo Álvarez and Terence Crawford have laughed off Paul's chances should they fight, but, in light of the dollars such a fight would generate, haven't entirely ruled themselves out. Instead, Paul has turned to 58-year-old Mike Tyson, whose legacy as one of the all-time greats is secure, but who hasn't boxed in anger for over 20 years.
Both boxers are set to share a purse in the region of $60 million.
In Countdown: Paul vs Tyson, Paul, ever the publicist, would have audiences believe that a victory over the older man should enhance his credentials and bring him closer to a scrap with Alvarez or Crawford: "When I knock him out I'll be the new face of boxing," he says. Eddie Hearn, one of the sport's most influential figures, is simply hoping that Tyson emerges unscathed, telling The Independent: "You have no respect for the sport of boxing if you put Mike Tyson in a ring at 58 years of age. I can't watch that." Both boxers are set to share a purse in the region of $60 million, which suggests that the viewing public disagrees with Hearn's assessment.
SOURCE: The Independent
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