At the age of 58, Mike Tyson will return to the boxing ring.
Mr Tyson, the former world heavyweight champion whose career has been marred by problems in and out of the ring, will face social media influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul on July 20 in a fight to be streamed live on Netflix. the company’s. announced on Thursday.
The bout, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will be Mr. Tyson’s first since 2020, when he and Roy Jones Jr., also a former world boxing champion, fought to a draw in an exhibition bout.
The event will be another step in Netflix’s aggressive push into live “sports-adjacent programming,” which has the potential to attract large audiences without the kind of investment required to stream games from professional sports leagues. The company recently inked a 10-year, multi-billion dollar deal for the exclusive broadcast rights to World Wrestling Entertainment’s flagship weekly wrestling show, “Raw.”
The made-for-stream boxing spectacle came about through a partnership between Netflix and Mr. He and Mr. Tyson will be paid about the same for the fight, but the parties did not disclose the amount.
Paul, 27, started boxing in 2018 and has seen his star rise on his way to a 9-1 record. His last fight was on Saturday night when he stopped Ryan Bourland in the first round.
“It’s crazy to believe that in my second pro fight, I went viral for knocking out Nate Robinson on the undercard of Mike Tyson,” Mr. Paul said in a statement. “Now, less than four years later, I step up to face Tyson himself to see if I have what it takes to defeat one of boxing’s most notorious fighters and biggest icons.”
Mr. Tyson, who turns 58 in June, was a phenomenon from the start of his professional career in 1985. He became a champion in his 20s and won his first 37 professional bouts, almost all by knockout. His first professional loss, to James (Buster) Douglas, remains one of the most shocking upsets in sports history.
He later ran into legal trouble, serving three years in prison for rape. In the ring, his reputation was tarnished by erratic behavior, such as biting one of Evander Holyfield’s ears during a match in 1997.
Lately, Mr. Tyson, who has spoken of a past cocaine addiction, has been devoting more time to his marijuana startup than to his boxing career. It sells a variety of products, including chewing gum shaped like Mr. Holyfield’s ear.
Netflix’s first foray into a live sports-related event was an exhibition golf tournament in November that featured athletes from its “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” series and golfers featured in its “Full Swing” series. Last weekend, it aired an exhibition tennis match between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.
The company also knows Mr. Pavlos. Last year, an episode of the documentary series “Untold” focused on his transformation from YouTube celebrity to professional boxer. The episode, “Untold: Jake Paul the Problem Child,” spent a week in the Netflix top 10 in 20 countries, including Britain.
In 2021, Paul’s older brother Logan fought former boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a pay-per-view match that Showtime sold for $49.99. The fight was fought over eight rounds and there was no winner.
