At 58 years old, Mike Tyson will return to the boxing ring.
Tyson, the former world heavyweight champion whose career was marred by problems in and out of the ring, will face social media influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul on July 20 in a bout that will air live on Netflix , the company. announced on Thursday.
The fight, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will be Tyson’s first fight 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 toward live “sports-adjacent programming,” which has the potential to attract large audiences without the type of investment that streaming professional sports league games requires. The company recently reached a 10-year, multimillion-dollar deal for the exclusive rights to broadcast World Wrestling Entertainment’s weekly wrestling show, “Raw.”
The made-for-streaming boxing spectacle was achieved thanks to a partnership between Netflix and Mr. Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, the company he founded in 2021 with Nakisa Bidarian to revolutionize combat sports. He and Tyson will be paid roughly the same for the fight, but the parties did not disclose the amount.
Paul, 27, took up boxing in 2018 and has seen his star rise on his way to a 9-1 record. His last fight was Saturday night, when he stopped Ryan Bourland in the first round.
“It’s crazy to think that in my second professional fight, I went viral for knocking out Nate Robinson on Mike Tyson’s undercard,” Paul said in a statement. “Now, less than four years later, I’m going to face Tyson and see if I have what it takes to beat one of the most notorious fighters and one of the biggest icons in boxing.”
Tyson, who will turn 58 in June, was a phenomenon from the start of his professional career in 1985. He became champion at the age of 20 and won his first 37 professional matches, almost all by knockout. His first professional loss, to James (Buster) Douglas, remains one of the most shocking upsets in sports history.
He later faced legal problems and served three years in prison for rape. In the ring, his reputation was tarnished by erratic behavior, such as biting Evander Holyfield’s ear during a fight in 1997.
Lately, Tyson, who has spoken of a cocaine addiction in the past, has spent more time on his budding marijuana business than on his boxing career. He sells a variety of products, including gummies shaped like Mr. Holyfield’s ear.
Netflix’s first foray into a live sporting event was an exhibition golf match in November featuring athletes from its “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” series and golfers featured in its “Full Swing” series. Last weekend, he broadcast an exhibition tennis match between Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.
The company also knows Mr. Paul. Last year, an episode of his docuseries “Untold” focused on his transformation from YouTube celebrity to professional boxer. The episode, “Untold: Jake Paul the Problem Child,” spent a week in the top 10 on Netflix in 20 countries, including Britain.
In 2021, Paul’s older brother Logan fought former boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a pay-per-view fight that Showtime sold for $49.99. The match lasted eight rounds and no winner was declared.
