Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul on Netflix: What fans need to know

The long-awaited fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul will take place on the night from Friday to Saturday German time. The former boxing world champion and the social media star get into the ring at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

From a sporting point of view, the value of the encounter is of course manageable – but the fight still promises to be a great spectacle. Not least because the streaming provider Netflix is ​​showing the fight live. German fans have to get up in the middle of the night for this: the broadcast from Texas is scheduled to start at around 10 p.m. local time, i.e. two o’clock our time. Since there are still a few fights scheduled beforehand, the fists should be flying between Paul and Tyson around five o’clock.

There are then two dazzling figures in the ring. Tyson won his first world heavyweight title in 1986, becoming the youngest boxer to do so. He was the first fighter to hold the world titles of the three major boxing associations WBC, WBA and IBF. Tyson won 50 of his 58 professional fights.

The New York native became famous above all for his escapades inside and outside the ring. Above all with his fight against Evander Holyfield in 1997, when he bit off part of his opponent’s ear. Tyson was also imprisoned twice for rape and assault. In 2005 he finally ended his career after several comeback attempts. Tyson is now 58 years old. The last time he was in the ring was in 2020 in an exhibition fight against Roy Jones Jr.

His opponent Jake Paul has only been boxing for a few years, but is by no means less well-known than his counterpart – at least on the Internet. He is followed by 27 million fans on Instagram and 20.8 million on YouTube. So far, the 27-year-old influencer has fought ten fights and won nine of them. Paul is considered a clear outsider against Mike Tyson, even though he is more than 30 years younger.

Before the fight against the former world champion, the influencer speaks loudly. “I will be the new face of boxing,” he says. And: “I’m teaching Mike Tyson how to box.” “Iron Mike” also chimes in with the typical boxer’s diction: “I’m well prepared and will knock out Jake Paul brilliantly.”

Whoever is right will show themselves in the ring. Tyson is expected to receive a fee of between $50 and $100 million for the fight – but he is also risking his health. That’s probably why the boxing rules were modified a little. Only eight rounds are scheduled for the fight instead of the usual twelve. These only last two minutes instead of three. For this reason alone, critics such as the former German boxer Axel Schulz speak of an “exhibition fight”.