Mike Tyson Vs. Jake Paul: Netflix Live Boxing, Taylor Vs. Serrano II, And The Future Of The Game

Boxing will take center stage this Friday night, with the Netflix giant streaming a live boxing card for the first time. 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and 27-year-old Internet star Jake Paul will face off at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Jerry Jones will see a great sporting event take place at his stadium in a season where his Dallas Cowboys have been bad (just don’t ask if the sun is blocking his vision).

Mike Tyson, a man whose life consists of many seemingly endless things, will enter the boxing ring for the first time since the 2020 exhibition match against the legend Roy Jones Jr. Mike Tyson’s last professional fight was almost twenty years ago, in June. 2005, when he lost to Kevin McBride.

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has approved Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul as a professional boxer. The match will consist of eight two-minute rounds with Tyson and Paul wearing 14-ounce gloves. This fight was supposed to take place on July 20, but Tyson had an injury, so the event was postponed.

Why is 58-year-old Mike Tyson fighting again? A better question would be why Mike Tyson is allowed to fight again in a ring with 80,000 fans, broadcast around the world. When Mike Tyson last fought as a professional in June 2005, he lost by professional knockout to jockey Kevin McBride. After the fight, Tyson said, “I don’t have the energy to be in this game anymore.” I don’t want to disrespect the game I love. My heart is no longer in this. I apologize to the fans who paid for this. I wish I could have done better”. Now, here we are. It’s often said that strength is the last thing a boxer loses as they get older, but this takes that saying to an extreme.

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Jake Paul deserves credit for sticking with boxing. Although his antics, public thirst, and general popularity may rub people the wrong way, Paul has been involved in the game for longer than anyone expected. Paul is 10-1 with seven knockouts in pro fights. However, the word pro-fight is a misnomer.

Of his eleven boxing matches, his first two were against YouTuber (Ali Eson Gib) and former NBA player Nate Robinson. His other five fights were against four mixed-karate artists: Ben Askren, two fights with Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva, and Nate Diaz. In his three boxing matches he came up against opponents whose first line would be a professional boxer. His only loss came to Tommy Fury, a legitimate boxer Jake Paul once faced (Tommy Fury is best known for being the younger brother of Tyson Fury and taking time off from boxing in 2019 to appear on the reality show Love Island).

After his loss to Fury, Jake Paul immediately sent out Andre August and Ryan Bourland, who are professional boxers but were put in the ring against Jake Paul for a reason. In his last fight this July, when Mike Tyson had to pull out of a scheduled fight, Paul fought MMA/knuckle boxer Mike Perry. Next up is the 58-year-old man best known to Jake Paul fans for his cameos in the Hangover films.

However, Jake Paul has done a lot of good things in boxing. He has got a lot of people talking about this sport, which is what boxing needs. Paul has also ventured into the promotional side of sports. Through his company, Most Valuable Promotions, Paul staged events, helped unknown fighters become famous, and helped legitimize women’s boxing and increase the pay of its participants. The most famous boxer in Jake Paul’s stable is future Hall of Famer Amanda Serrano. Just before Mike Tyson and Jake Paul enter the ring, Serrano will have a rematch with Ireland’s Katie Taylor where two of the best female boxers in the world will be on display.

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In April 2022, the first fight between Katie Taylor (23-1, 6 KO) and Amanda Serrano (47-2-1, 32 KO) reached and undoubtedly exceeded the hype that was placed on it. The fight was the first women’s boxing match to sell out Madison Square Garden and took place between two women’s boxing champions at 135-pound lightweight. Taylor won by split decision in 2022 Fight of the Year by Sports Illustrated and Event of the Year by Ring Magazine.

The judges could have scored on both sides of this fight. Serrano landed 173 punches to Taylor’s 147, including Serrano landing an incredible 44 punches in two minutes of the fifth round. But Taylor landed 39% of his punches compared to Serrano’s 28% connection rate. All three judges scored the last three rounds of Katie Taylor’s fight, which was the difference.

Since Taylor and Serrano fought nearly thirty months ago, Serrano has won five fights in a row. Katie Taylor defeated Karen Elizabeth Carbajal before moving up to the 140-pound weight class. Taylor lost her first job to Chantelle Cameron; Taylor requested a rematch clause and defeated Cameron in a rematch. Taylor avenged his defeat and became the undisputed super-lightweight champion. Katie Taylor joined Claressa Shields as the only female boxers to become undisputed champions in two weight divisions.

Friday, Taylor vs. Serrano II will have Taylor’s super-lightweight championship on the line. What is worth noting is that the fight will be at a catchweight of 138 pounds. Given the state of the field, previous matches, and months of tension, this fight will be gas. Serrano has a lot of career experience and will have a game plan to make sure the rematch ends differently than the first game. Of course, Katie Taylor will make changes on her own.

Katie Taylor graciously responded to critics asking why she agreed to fight on the undercard of Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul. “I think the fight at Madison Square Garden was very historic, and it inspired a lot of young girls in the sport, but to have the opportunity to fight on Netflix with a large audience, millions of people will be watching this fight, you will see women’s boxing at the highest level and I think Amanda and I are very grateful for this opportunity to be and the truth, although there may be a dispute about the main event, but Amanda and I are pure players.”

The growth of women’s boxing is something Taylor and Serrano are understandably passionate about. When Taylor started boxing as a teenager in the Republic of Ireland in the late 1990s, women were not legally allowed to box, so Taylor had to pretend to be a boy to box. Katie Taylor competed in the first ever officially sanctioned women’s boxing match in Ireland on October 31, 2001. From there, Taylor had a decorated and legendary career, winning 176 times, losing twelve times, and drawing one fight. The highlight of Taylor’s novice career was winning a gold medal for the Republic of Ireland at the 2012 London Olympics, the first Olympic Games to feature women’s boxing. In November 2016, Taylor entered the professional ranks.

Meanwhile, Amanda Serrano took a different path to success. He turned professional at the age of 20 in 2009. Fifteen years ago, women’s boxing was considered a novelty, if admitted, and the beginning of Serrano’s career took place in obscurity. Compared to Katie Taylor, who has had all her fights televised around the world, Serrano fought in front of smaller crowds. Throughout his career, Serrano has taken on every challenge, moving up to the top weight classes or dropping down to the lower weight classes to take on anyone. The success and length of Serrano’s career is a testament to his mental and physical demeanor.

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Friday night will be a spectacle. In a way, it’s only fitting that this card will play on Netflix. Some people will sing the carnival of Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul. Anything is possible, literally. Will Mike Tyson destroy Prime energy drinks to get under Paul’s skin? Having already given Tyson the pigeon a few days ago, will Jake Paul criticize Mike Tyson’s one-man Broadway show? Anyone hoping to see a big boxing match will be disappointed. But for fans who are looking for high-quality boxing, Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano will be there to check that box. Friday’s historic boxing card on Netflix will have something for everyone. In a world where everything seems so fragmented, maybe that’s a good thing.