Mike Tyson and Jake Paul will walk to the ring in Texas tonight for a fight which deviates from the traditional rules of the sport of boxing
Mike Tyson and Jake Paul will meet in the boxing ring tonight – but not under the sport’s traditional ruleset.
Up to 80,000 fans will watch 58-year-old heavyweight legend Tyson take on YouTube star Paul as Netflix takes its first steps into the world of live combat sports. But not everything will be familiar to fight fans with Paul agreeing to Tyson’s demands over how the fight will play out.
The specific set of rules is very similar to those in place when Tyson last fought four years ago. On that occasion he drew with fellow boxing legend Roy Jones Jr behind closed doors during the Covid-19 pandemic. And as he prepares to take on Paul tonight, here, we run through the rules for the controversial bout…
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Mike Tyson will face Jake Paul in the ring on November 15. The fight will air exclusively on Netflix, which is available for free with Sky’s latest TV deal.
Shoppers can get the Sky Stream bundle for £19 a month with a new Black Friday deal that comes with a free Netflix subscription
Rounds
If either Mike Tyson or Jake Paul fail to knock the other out tonight, their fight will last a total of just 16 minutes. That’s because they agreed to fight over eight two-minute rounds having initially been told that would be the criteria under which they could host an exhibition bout in Texas. But when Tyson demanded the fight be sanctioned as a professional contest, he and Paul asked that the fight remains over eight sessions. Fights of this magnitude would normally be held over 10 or 12 rounds lasting for three minutes each, but stamina doubts persist over Tyson and whether or not he would have had the fitness for such a fight.
Gloves
Another departure from the norm, Mike Tyson and Jake Paul will wear 14oz gloves tonight. Normally for a professional heavyweight fight, the combatants would wear 10oz mitts which provide much less padding. That means it is less likely that Paul and Tyson will be able to hurt each other and it also means their punches will be slower given the added weight provides more resistance. The use of 14oz gloves is surprising given Tyson and Roy Jones Jr wore 12oz ones for their exhibition bout four years ago.
Knockdowns/Knockouts
Thankfully, because it is a sanctioned fight, knockdowns and knockouts ARE permitted. This may seem a strange point to have to clarify but when Mike Tyson fought Roy Jones Jr, the two legends were prevented from putting each other on the canvas or stopping each other. In the event, that rule wasn’t needed as neither man looked dangerous enough to end the bout before the final bell. Both Tyson and Jake Paul have vowed to knock out the other which, if it happens, will provide a viral moment for years to come.
Scoring/Winning
Whether or not the fight is stopped, we will at least have a winner tonight. That wasn’t the case when Jake Paul’s brother Logan took on Floyd Mayweather three years ago. On that night in Miami, no winner was declared after eight three-minute rounds with both men later claiming they had done enough to win. Tonight, three ringside judges will decide whether Mike Tyson or Paul is the winner on the 10-point must system, meaning each round will be scored 10-9 to one of the fighters, or 10-8 if there is a knockdown. Rounds may also be scored 10-10 if there is nothing to split the combatants.
