The YouTuber’s fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul was refereed last year

by Junna Base November 13, 2024

ARLINGTON, Texas — Mark Calo-oy, a veteran referee from Texas, has been selected to officiate the fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, according to a copy of the referee’s duties obtained by USA TODAY Sports.

He and Paul need no introduction. Calo-oy, 64, refereed Paul’s fight against Nate Diaz, a mixed martial arts fan favorite, on August 5, 2023 in Dallas.

Paul, the boxer turned YouTuber, won the highly anticipated 10-round fight via unanimous decision.

The heavyweight fight between Tyson (58) and Paul (27) is scheduled to take place on Friday at AT&T Stadium and will be televised by Netflix. And Calo-oy knows big fights in front of big crowds in Texas.

He refereed the world title fight between Canelo Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders in 2021 at AT&T Stadium in front of 73,126 spectators. Alvarez won when Saunders failed to get out in the ninth round in front of the largest crowd of an indoor boxing event in the United States.

Damon Zavala, vice president of the Association of Ringside Physicians, said a referee would play an important role because of Tyson’s age. He made those comments before USA TODAY learned the referee would be Calo-oy.

“There are differences in refereeing styles and how they control a situation in the ring and who is in charge,” Zavala, who is trained in internal medicine, told USA TODAY Sports in late October. “Some people might get caught up in the moment and just be a step too late to stop the action.”

Calo-oy’s story suggests that he is not afraid to finish a fight. Of the 48 fights he has refereed this year, he has stopped 11, according to BoxRec, the official registry for boxing.

According to BoxRec, Calo-oy refereed 445 fights in a career that began in 2003. More than 20 of them were world title fights.

Tyson, the former world heavyweight champion, has not competed in a sanctioned professional fight since 2005. In 2020, Tyson fought Roy Jones Jr. in an eight-round contest and they fought to a split draw, which was scored by celebrity judges.

The judges for the Tyson-Paul fight are David Iacobucci of Dallas, Laurence Cole of Dallas and Jesse Reyes of Plano.

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