Paul vs Tyson LIVE: Press conference updates and latest news for Netflix fight

On the topic of Taylor vs Serrano 2, here’s Steve Bunce’s recent column on the state of women’s boxing:

The bout, for the IBF, WBC and WBO super-lightweight titles, offers the Puerto Rican fighter a chance at revenge against the Bray boxer.

“To be on the same card as Mike Tyson is a pinch-me moment,” Taylor admits. “He’s a legend of the sport, an icon of the sport.”

Here’s all you need to know:

Paul, 27, and Tyson, 58, will clash in a divisive fight at the AT&T Stadium – home to NFL’s Dallas Cowboys – as the action streams live on Netflix.

Tyson has not fought professionally in 19 years and had to postpone the original July date, after the heavyweight icon suffered an ulcer flare-up on a flight.

Four months on, he is finally set to fight Paul, who made his name as a YouTuber but has compiled a 10-1 record as a pro boxer, knocking out numerous MMA stars along the way.

While many boxing fans have dismissed this match-up, it may yet draw many eyes to the sport, and it’s set to be a major payday for the pair…

“Are we doing video?” Jake Paul asks, half-aiming the question at me and half-directing it towards his representative on the Zoom call. “Err, yeah?” I reply. “I don’t usually upload the video from these sorts of chats, but…”

But it would seem strange to interview one of the biggest screen presences of the last decade and not have him appear, well, on screen.

‘Biggest’ replaces ‘most popular’ here, given the word ‘popular’ tends to imply widespread affection, and it’s fair to say that Paul is more well-known than well-liked. Controversies have arisen at intervals since the American emerged on Vine in 2013, three years before his two-season stint on the Disney Channel series Bizaardvark. Paul, 27, has nevertheless only seen his profile grow in the decade since, with 20 million YouTube subscribers and 27m Instagram followers at the time of writing.

Still, he does not identify as a YouTuber or influencer anymore; he’s a professional boxer.

“Live on Netflix.” You’ll hear those words a lot this week, as Mike Tyson and Jake Paul meet in one of the most controversial fights in recent memory. But as novel as those words are, they may represent the norm in the coming months and years.

Let’s start with the exposition. Netflix has been a game-changer in the consumption of film and television over the last decade, and the American streaming giant is now seeking to have the same impact in the world of sport. Launched in 1998, Netflix’s first major boom took place between 2007 and 2011, as its subscriber numbers soared from 6m to 23m. But it felt like Netflix really became a staple in living rooms and on laptops worldwide in the mid-2010s, with the release of its first original output: the award-winning, US remake of House Of Cards.

Since then, numerous series like Squid Game, Stranger Things, Money Heist and Bridgerton have further shown Netflix’s ability to produce craved art and content (although the platform’s original films have not impressed in the same way), seeing a growth to 282.7m subscribers as of late 2024.

And Netflix’s next move? Committing to live sport.

“There’s nothing nice about me,” Mike Tyson said, speaking to The Independent and other publications over Zoom, two weeks before his fight with Jake Paul.

“I’m not a nice person. I’m a decent person, I try to do the right thing. But a nice person, I am not. Anybody with the [idea] that I’m a nice person is gonna be disappointed. I’m just not. I don’t make people happy for no reason, I’m just who I am. I’m not trying to gain friends, that’s basically what I’m saying.

“I don’t want to make friends with you, I don’t care if you put me on your yacht, I don’t give a f***. I’m not gonna ever be nice to nobody; I’ll be kind, but never nice.”

There is no hate, no love, the gloves are big and the rounds will be short when Mike Tyson and Jake Paul fight on Friday night.

Tyson is 58 now, reformed, grey at the edges, his eyes have softened with his belly and each attempt at spitting venom sounds fake. Well, it probably is, so what? He was once Iron Mike, the youngest heavyweight champion in history, so please show some respect.

Paul, in his own unique way, has single-handedly ruined the boxing careers of many UFC stars and exposed them inside the boxing ring as flat-footed swingers; now the former child performer is hunting down faded kings of the ring. It is the unmade Rocky movie with a twist: can the old king beat the young kid? It’s the age-old boxing tale.

But here’s what you don’t understand about the fight…

Read Steve Bunce’s preview in full:

That’s all from the fighters!