ON the day when adults who either don’t or can’t read books dress their children as fictional characters rather than have them actually sit down and read, all in the name of attention on Instagram, it feels somewhat fitting that boxing fans should have to the read the following: Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul confirmed for July 20 in Texas, live on Netflix.
Indeed, there is arguably no better fight to be announced on World Book Day than Mike Tyson, now 57 years of age, going up against Jake Paul, a YouTuber who has yet to beat an authentic professional boxer. There is also no better location for this spectacle to take place than Texas and no better platform for it than Netflix.
All things considered, it is probably the perfect fight for Paul, the perfect fight for “influencer boxing”, and the surest sign yet that all that matters today, in boxing as is in life, is profile and clout. Forget taking the time to read, or learn, or get good at something. Influencers like Jake Paul, as well as so many others, have courageously shown that all you really need to do to get ahead is dress up, give yourself a title, and look like you’re reading.
As for Tyson, a tragedy with far too many dramatic moments for it to be believed, this fight with Paul – if of course it happens – merely represents the latest sad chapter in a story packed full of them. Almost 20 years since he was last seen in a boxing ring, the saddest thing of all is the fact that Tyson, the former heavyweight champion of the world, will start a fight against Jake Paul, a fan who still has no idea what he is doing, as a pre-fight underdog. For it is like Matt Christie, BN’s fearless leader says, “If Kevin McBride could beat up Mike Tyson 20 years ago, I suspect Jake Paul will be able to do so in the summer.”