What if Jake Paul is the smartest guy in the room?

AS THE HYPE TRAIN around the long-awaited bout between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson reaches its crescendo – there was a typically theatrical stare down this morning in which Tyson slapped Paul – you would expect the two boxers to be feeling a little anxious. After all, they both have plenty to lose, don’t they?

For Paul, a You-Tuber-turned-boxer, who’s been striving to be taken seriously in the ring since he made his debut against fellow YouTuber, AnEsonGib, back in 2020, a win against the one time ‘Baddest Man On the Planet’ would go some way to legitimising his status as a pugilist.

I say some way, because as Paul himself acknowledges in Countdown: Paul vs Tyson, Netflix’s three-part pre-fight documentary, there are many boxing fans who will never accept him as a serious fighter.

If you’re not familiar, most boxing pundits will quickly point out that Paul’s path into the sport has been feathered by fighting washed up MMA fighters, who are rarely in his weight division. The one time he fought someone with anything resembling a boxing pedigree, in a similar weight class – Tyson Fury’s brother Tommy, a professional boxer and former Love Island contestant – he lost.

If Paul were to win this weekend, these critics would zero in on the 31-year age gap between he and the 58-year-old Tyson, even though right now most are predicting Tyson to defeat the YouTuber.

A loss, as Paul’s brother and fellow YouTuber-turned boxer, Logan, says in the doco, would likely stall, possibly even permanently derail Jake’s fledgling boxing career. He couldn’t even beat a 58-year-old, his critics would surely say. A loss might mean Paul could find it more difficult to get people to tune in against his next washed-up opponent. Boxing, unlike MMA, is fixated on unblemished or near-spotless records, though you would expect Paul to ask for a rematch, which if the concept proves a hit, would likely be forthcoming.

The thing is, Paul seems to have serious ambitions as a fighter, saying in the doco that he caught the boxing bug after that first fight with AnEsonGib and would like to become a world champion one day. He seems to crave respect as a fighter, if not, his juvenile antics would suggest, as a human being.

As things currently stand, Paul’s ambitions are fanciful, though the 27-year-old does deserve credit for the strides he’s made as a fighter. He’s no mug and should probably be commended for even getting in the ring with guys who’ve been fighting their whole lives.

For Tyson, the stakes are just as big. While a loss wouldn’t ruin his legacy as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, it would certainly hurt his reputation and diminish some of the aura that surrounds him. That aura has largely been restored thanks to the relentless bombardment on social feeds of clips of Tyson in his fearsome prime, rather than the shell of a fighter he was by the time he remained on his stool against Kevin McBride, is his last pro fight back in 2005.

While Tyson can use his age as an excuse for a failure against Paul, he would also have to face the fact that he lost to a fighter – a freaking content creator – with just four years’ experience in the ring. And no small thing, but he would also have to grapple with the fact that his opponent appears to be a buffoon.

Now again, I say ‘appears to be’ because increasingly you have to wonder if this is Jake Paul’s world and we’re all just living in it – it would certainly go a long way to explaining how a convicted felon got elected President for a second time. Seriously, though, the boxing career Paul has managed to put together, by parlaying both his fame as a YouTuber and the objectionableness of his frat-boy delinquent persona, is nothing short of remarkable. This weekend’s bout will likely be the most watched boxing event of the year. Meanwhile, it’s estimated that Paul will receive something in the order of $20-40m for participating in the eight-round fight.

The genius of Paul’s ascent in boxing is that it’s largely founded on antipathy. Most people don’t like him, something he’s keenly aware of. In the Netflix doco, Paul reflects on the fact that in taking on Tyson, he’s had to get used to the unfamiliar experience of some fans showing him some love.  

While that’s nice, it’s in Paul’s interests to continue to be disliked. As many fighters have demonstrated before him – Muhammad Ali, Anthony Mundine, Floyd Mayweather and Connor McGregor, to name a few – there is money to be made by running your mouth and watching millions of people tune in to see your opponent try and shut it. Being the person people love to hate is good business.

It’s perhaps worth contrasting the Tyson v Paul spectacle with the other major fight happening this weekend, involving another candidate for the unofficial title of BMOTP, Jon Jones, who’s taking on former heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 309. While this is a real fight, it’s not the one most MMA fans want – they’d rather see Jones take on British fighter Tom Aspinall, or former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

Jones, who appears to want to retire after the Miocic fight as the sport’s GOAT, has been accused of ducking Aspinall, worried that the Brit might tarnish his legacy.

Talk of GOAT legacies and heavyweight championship belts are, of course, a long way from the pantomime theatrics of Paul v Tyson – AI videos of Paul and Tyson kissing, Tyson’s no-doubt well-rehearsed slap of Paul at this morning’s stare down. But it’s easy to predict which of the two fights will get more eyeballs and certainly more mainstream media coverage.

The respective cultural footprint of the two fights might be something Jones wants to consider going forward. For if he does retire as the UFC GOAT, undefeated (other than a disqualification for using an illegal elbow technique against Matt Hamill in 2009) he may find himself in a similar position to Floyd Mayweather, who’s repeatedly been lured back into ring for exhibition fights, including against the aforementioned Logan Paul.

Given the way things are going and the increasing popularity of circus fights over genuine bouts, it’s not unforeseeable that one day Jones is seduced by the dollars and the spectacle of an exhibition boxing match. And if that day comes, you can probably hazard a guess as to who’ll be there waiting for him, licking his chops, as he once again leans into that douchebag persona he so skilfully deploys to his own ends: Jake Paul.

Should that occur, we’ll wring our hands yet again, but many of us will tune in despite ourselves, unable to resist participating in Paul’s grand farce. Can’t see it? Stranger things have happened – they are happening, this very weekend.

Who is Jake Paul?

Jake Paul is a professional boxer who rose to fame as a social media star. By the time he was 16 years old, he had 5.3 million followers and more than two billion views online. He launched his own YouTube channel and fell into boxing when he challenged a rival influencer in the ring in 2018.

Who is Mike Tyson?

Seriously? He’s among the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. Tyson competed between 1985 and 2005, amassing a record of 50 wins from 58 fights, including 44 by knockout with six losses. He holds the record for the youngest boxer ever to win the heavyweight title at 20 years, 4 months, and 22 days. His career was marred by controversy, including a rape conviction in 1992 and a disqualification for biting the ear of his opponent, Evander Holyfield, in 1997.

What is Jake Paul’s boxing record?

Paul beat YouTuber Deji Olatunji in his amateur debut back in 2018 before compiling a professional record of 10 wins (seven knockouts) and one loss to Tommy Fury, brother of former world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury. Paul’s biggest win was over former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, who was 47 at the time.

Will the result of Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson count on their records?

Yes. The fight is registered with BoxRec and will count towards both fighters’ records. It is not an exhibition, like Tyson’s fight against Roy Jones in 2020.

What time is Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson on in Australia?

The first fight on the card for Tyson vs Paul begins at 12pm, November 16th, Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT). Be warned, though, there are six other fights on the card before the two main draws. The main undercard is between two of the world’s best female fighters, Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, for Taylor’s IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO women’s super-lightweight titles. Taylor won their first fight, via split decision, in 2022. Paul and Tyson will likely enter the ring closer to 3pm.

The fight will be streamed live on Netflix and will not be pay-per-view. Anyone with a Netflix subscription can tune in.

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