The highly anticipated summer bout between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson just got even more interesting. On Monday, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations revealed that the match would be sacntioned as a professional fight.
Since the surprise face off between Tyson, 57, and Paul, 27, was announced back in March, many fans have wondered whether the match would be sanctioned or simply an exhibition. These questions were put to rest by Most Valuable Promotions co-founder Nakisa Bidarian, who asserted the fight’s outcome would in fact impact each boxer’s professional record.
“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 told ESPN’s Andreas Hale. “Over the past six weeks, MVP has worked with its partners to satisfy the requirements of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations (TDLR) to sanction Paul vs. Tyson, and we are grateful that we have gotten to this point.”
The heavyweight clash, which is set to take place on July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas and be streamed by Netflix, will be fought over eight two-minute rounds and feature 14 oz. gloves. Both boxers took to social media to confirm the new rules and status of the fight.
“Mike Tyson wanted it to be a pro fight. Netflix wanted it to be a pro fight. So I agreed to make it a pro fight. Winner takes all,” Paul wrote on X, with Tyson adding: “Yes it’s a real sanctioned fight with @jakepaul.”
