The boxing match between Mike Tyson (50-6, 44 knockouts) and Jake Paul (9-1, eight KOs) scheduled for July 20 will be officially sanctioned by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations, as confirmed by Most Valuable Promotions on Monday afternoon. The heavyweight bout is set to take place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tex., and will be fought over eight rounds of two minutes each, with the fighters wearing 14-ounce gloves. This is different from the typical 8 or 10 ounces worn in most professional matches.
In the co-feature, unified featherweight champion Amanda Serrano (46-2-1, 30 KOs) will face super lightweight champion Katie Taylor (23-1, six KOs) in a rematch of the first women’s main event at Madison Square Garden. Both the Tyson-Paul and Serrano-Taylor fights will be streamed live on Netflix.
Most Valuable Promotions co-founder Nakisa Bidarian stated in a press release, “Mike Tyson and Jake Paul signed on to fight each other with the desire to do so in a sanctioned professional fight that would have a definitive outcome.” He went on to explain that over the past six weeks MVP has worked with partners to meet the requirements set by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations for the sanctioning of the Paul vs. Tyson fight.
Mike Tyson, 57, was the youngest heavyweight title holder in boxing history when he won the WBC belt in 1987 at just 20 years and 4 months old. He held the undisputed title through 1990 and was the first heavyweight to simultaneously hold the WBC, WBA, and IBF titles. Tyson last fought in an official boxing match in 2005 at Capital One Arena (then known as MCI Center) in the District, where he failed to answer the bell in the seventh round against Kevin McBride.
Jake Paul, 27, rose to fame on YouTube before transitioning to professional boxing in 2020. Within two years, he made it to Forbes’s list of highest-paid athletes for his earnings from three boxing matches, estimated at $38 million. Paul is also a co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions and has a large following on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).