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Numerous professional fighters have expressed anger and disgust with regard to Thursday’s shocking announcement that Mike Tyson is going to box Jake Paul.
27-year-old Jake Paul, who has fought 10 times professionally, almost exclusively against non-boxers, is 9-1 with his only loss coming against the only fighter with even a modicum of a boxing pedigree in Tommy Fury.
Mike Tyson, who is 58-years-old, last fought professionally in 2005 and won just two of his final six fights. Since then, the only time he has stepped into a boxing ring as a competitor was against Roy Jones, Jr. in 2020 in an exhibition that went the full eight rounds and ended in a split draw, and a 2006 four round exhibition against Corey Sanders.
It’s JAKE PAUL vs. MIKE TYSON — yes, really! — in a LIVE BOXING event at AT&T Stadium you won’t want to miss. Airing live on Netflix Saturday, July 20 #PaulTyson pic.twitter.com/ULXVeCYeH6
— Netflix (@netflix) March 7, 2024
The Tyson vs. Paul fight at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on July 20th is going to be car crash TV and numerous fighters are furious that it is being allowed to happen.
UFC lightweight fighter Renato Moicano wrote on X after the announcement, “Man… if Jake Paul is really fighting Mike Tyson we as a fight fans should riot!!! Absolutely disgusting!!!”
He also added, “The possibility of one of the greatest boxer of all time die in a ring is real.”
Former UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping, responding to Jake Paul directly on X, wrote, “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
UFC featherweight Billy Quarantillo posted, “My brother in Christ… he is going to be 58 years old and abused his body for most of that, Jake’s is 27 and probably on steroids, this isn’t the matchup you think it is.”
Even KSI, who has taken a similar path to Jake Paul in boxing, wrote, “No one wanted to see this… So sad to see.”
So how is it being allowed to happen?
According to Margaret Fleming of Front Office Sports, “In the Lone Star State, fighting is overseen by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which is not known for zealous enforcement of the codes governing combat sports. These include a requirement that fighters pass a prefight medical exam showing them fit for competition — a subjective standard, but even so one it’s difficult to imagine being met by Tyson, who has a history of head trauma and suffers from nerve pain known as sciatica, which can occasionally leave him needing to use a wheelchair.”
She did add that the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation claims they have yet to be asked to approve the fight, so it will be very interesting to see what decision they make if and when that actually happens.