When asked about boxing past you may think about legends like Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Muhammed Ali, Rocky “The Brockton Blockbuster” Marciano, and “Iron” Mike Tyson.
When asked about boxing present, your mind may go to YouTube, and no I’m not kidding.
Nowadays, we see social media influencers stepping into the ring more than ever before. The first influencer boxing card occurred in February, 2018 when YouTuber KSI took on fellow YouTuber Joe Weller. KSI went on to defeat Weller and subsequently called out the Paul brothers (Logan and Jake Paul), fellow YouTubers who were full of controversy.
Later that year in August, Logan Paul and KSI would meet in the ring along with several other YouTubers including Logan and KSI’s brother Jake and Deji.
Logan Paul vs KSI ended in a draw, little did they know they would be the catalyst for many YouTuber boxing events to come.
KSI would defeat Logan in their rematch a little over a year later and while Logan would eventually stop boxing to focus on his professional wrestling career, having signed with the WWE.
His little brother Jake Paul continued boxing and by August 2023, had a record of 9 wins (6 by knockout) and a single loss.
In March, 2024 online streaming service Netflix announced they’d host a fight between Jake Paul and Boxing Legend Mike Tyson at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on July 20, 2024. This originally was sanctioned as an exhibition bout where nobody wins. However, Paul submitted a request to the Texas Combative Sports Program that the match be a Professional match meaning that a winner would be decided.
The bout would be confirmed to be a professional match on April 19th.
Tyson would suffer an Ulcer Flare boarding a plane weeks before the fight causing the fight to be delayed several months.
Paul would instead fight MMA Artist Mike Perry at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Paul would defeat Perry by knockout, extending his record to 10-1.
On June 7th, Netflix confirmed the match between Paul and Tyson would occur on November 15, 2024.
Leading up to the matchup between them questions were raised surrounding the ages of the two fighters. Paul was 27 and Tyson was 58, this 31-year age difference is the largest in boxing history. Fellow creator turned boxer KSI commented on the fight calling it “Elder Abuse” and former UFC Champion Sean Strickland said, “this should be illegal.”
Kearsley High School was buzzing leading up to the fight. Mike Tyson supporter Junior, Alexander Walters stated, “if Paul wins the fight was rigged.”
Students were polled before the fight and an astonishing 98.29% of students said that Tyson would beat Paul and the remaining 1.71% said that Paul would beat Tyson. 57 students were asked and only 3 said Paul would beat Tyson.
Leading up to the main event Netflix had frequent buffering issues and crashed for this reporter about 10 times, these issues drew harsh criticisms from fans online. One Kearsley student, Senior Deon Howard, commented on the buffering issues using only two words, ”Trash, Terrible.” Netflix is scheduled to broadcast two NFL Christmas Day games, the Chiefs vs Steelers and Ravens vs Texans. Then starting in January, the platform is going to be the home of WWE Monday Night Raw, this might make fans wonder what the future of Netflix streaming will look like.
Three other fights supported the card.
Neeraj Goyat defeated Whindersson Nunes via Unanimous Decision.
World Boxing Council Welterweight Champion Mario Barrios retained his championship against Abel Ramos via a Split Draw
Women’s Lightweight Champion Katie Taylor put all five of her championships on the line against rival Amanda Serrano. Taylor would retain all five via Unanimous Decision.
In the main event, Jake Paul would face Mike Tyson.
The fight would last 8 rounds and while Tyson appeared to have won the first two rounds, Paul would go on to wallop Tyson in the next six rounds winning the fight via unanimous decision.
Paul showed respect to Tyson near the end of the last round bowing to Tyson and then embracing.
