Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight against a circus full of questions

LAS COLINAS, Texas – What year is it?

No, there is no time machine. Not a fountain of youth.

No secret elixir that will take him back to his best.

But even in the penultimate month of 2024, Mike Tyson is still at the center of massive events.

“I’m just ready to fight,” Tyson said Wednesday. “I said everything I had to say. There’s nothing else to say. I’m just looking forward to the fight. … The [amount of] People speak for themselves.”

He is now 58 years old, but is not responsible for this promotion himself – not by a long shot.

This time he has a dance partner in Jake Paul who builds a bridge for him to the next generation of fans.

The 27-year-old YouTuber-turned-boxer has a huge fan base and a knack for attracting audiences.

His ability to connect with younger followers through social media has led to significant intrigue in his career, be it positive or more often negative.

It accelerated his boxing career exponentially, gave him lucrative salaries and reached huge platforms that few other fighters could achieve at this stage of his career.

Together, Tyson and Paul have created an event where almost no one knows what to expect.

The two held their final press conference Wednesday at the Toyota Music Center ahead of their highly anticipated fight Friday night at AT&T Stadium – home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.

The fight will be broadcast live on Netflix and will be free to non-pay-per-view subscribers. This is the first-ever boxing match the company is streaming.

Both stand to make huge profits, with Paul expected to earn around $40 million and Tyson around $20 million.

Paul predicted 20 million people would tune in, but Netflix doesn’t need to even come close to that number to make history.

Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao drew 4.6 million viewers in 2015, the most-watched boxing match of all time. Nakisa Bidarian, co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions with Paul, said the trend is towards 65,000 fans in attendance.

“I’m blessed to be in the position I’m in and to be heavily criticized,” Paul said. “That just means I’m doing something right. Nobody had a boxing career like me. It will be examined and judged, but I got to the top in four years because I took risks.”

Tyson (50-6-2, 44 KOs), one of the greatest legends – and villains – in sports history, has not fought a professional fight since his loss to Kevin McBride in 2005, although he did fight Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition in 2020.

Tyson suffered an infected ulcer on a flight in May, causing that fight to be postponed from July 20 to Friday.

There is, to say the least, no precedent for 58-year-olds getting into the ring and getting beaten after developing sores.

Paul (10-1, 7 KOs) has fought other influencers, MMA fighters-turned-boxers, athletes from other sports, and low-level professional boxers.

To make this fight even more unique, although it is an officially sanctioned heavyweight bout based on both fighters’ records, it will feature eight (instead of ten rounds, which is typical for non-title fights) two-minute rounds rather than those found in boxing usual three-minute rounds.

Additionally, both fighters wear larger 14-ounce gloves instead of the 10-ounce gloves standard on heavyweights to reduce the impact of punches.

This all raises so many questions that should be answered soon.

Does Tyson actually have anything left?

Is it safe for him?

Can Paul actually box, or has his entire career been just a gimmick for money?

Is this something that can help boxing and provide a new medium for live sports broadcasting, or is it a one-off designed to encourage viewers to watch?

Should this be taken seriously despite the different rules?

Everyone’s guess is as good as anyone else’s. This mystery drives the immense interest in this fight.

“I’m not going to lose,” Tyson said in a rare moment of animation. “Did you hear what I said?”

Hundreds of fans flocked to the Toyota Music Center on Wednesday. Alcohol flowed through the seats, a whiff of marijuana wafted through the venue, and shouts from the crowd constantly interrupted the fighters on stage.

Tyson rarely spoke in complete sentences and could never manage more than a few words at a time, even when questioned repeatedly by host Ariel Helwani.

Paul hurled expletives at reporters and cursed the undercard fighters who predicted he would lose, urging them all to bet against him.

The circus has begun.

“Someone’s going to be put down,” Paul said. “It will be a war and we are both heavyweights. It doesn’t last the full 16 minutes.”