By Elazar Abrahams
On Monday evening I headed uptown to Harlem’s iconic Apollo Theater for an unforgettable press conference. On Saturday, July 20, YouTuber turned professional boxer Jake Paul will face off against Mike Tyson, one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. A future media skirmish is planned soon in Arlington, Texas, where the fight will be held, but the two opponents chose New York City as the spot to meet face to face for the first time since their match was announced. Local fans lined up for hours that morning for a chance to get in the doors, but TV and City was graciously granted access by Most Valuable Promotions and Netflix, which will be beaming the event into the homes of its nearly 270 million subscribers at no additional cost.
After both fighters walked out to hoots and hollers, combat sports journalist Ariel Helwani moderated a short discussion between Tyson and Paul before they took questions from the press. Much of the chatter was about the clear age gap; Paul is 27 and Tyson is 57, having last competed in 2005. But Mike didn’t seem phased by this in the slightest. “It was a no-brainer,” he said of accepting Jake’s challenge. “He was a new up and coming guy on the scene, and I like shaking the sports world to its core and I’m doing it now. It’s just something I want to do.”
That was an apparent theme throughout the hour: Tyson being surprisingly chill. Paul is infamously cocky and easy to hate, but Tyson didn’t antagonize him in the slightest. In fact, while Jake definitely took some proverbial swings at ‘Iron Mike,’ his usual antics seemed subdued. “I’m going to show Mike who has more power because he’s underestimating me,” declared the youngster. “I think everyone else is underestimating me and I believe that I hit harder. I know it’s going to be tough. I know I’m going to have to fight through adversity. I know I might even go to the canvas. I’m scared, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not about the fear stopping me. It’s about going into it, even though I am scared. That’s what true bravery is.” The veteran countered with, “Once he’s in that ring, he has to fight like his life depends on it, because it will be.”
The crowd was a mix of all ages, and there was a clear divide of which boxer each generation was rooting for. The adults in the room were heavily favoring Tyson, with whoops of “get him Mike!” coming from the theater’s rafters. The teens however, fell in Paul’s corner, especially during a segment where Helwani fielded questions from fans in the audience. Multiple high schoolers called Jake their inspiration and asked him for boxing advice, ignoring Tyson completely.
Also discussed were the altered rules for this headlining fight. Paul vs. Tyson is set for an eight-round bout of two-minutes each, quicker than the standard boxing agreement. Mike says he requested this and Jake was game. “I wanted the shorter rounds because I wanted more action. If we only have two minutes, we’ll fight more.” Paul agreed and hyped up the summer event, praising Netflix’s model. “We wanted to work with Netflix, they liked the idea and see the vision in what we’re building, what type of events we can put on,” Jake said. “This is quite literally the biggest fight of the 21st century because of the fact that it’s Mike Tyson versus me, but also the fact that it’s in 700 million households on Netflix for free, for everyone who’s a subscriber to watch.”
The two men weren’t the only stars of the night though. In a highly anticipated co-main event, the super lightweight women’s world champion Katie Taylor will defend her undisputed title against featherweight world champion Amanda Serrano. According to the moderator, this is the “most anticipated rematch in women’s boxing history.” The pair of women were also on stage and did much of the same formalities that Tyson and Paul engaged in. Lastly, the pairs squared in front of the dais for a great photo-op.
If this promotional kickoff proved anything to this journalist, it’s that come July, Paul vs. Tyson and Taylor vs. Serrano is going to be a cultural touchpoint that even those clueless about boxing won’t want to miss.
TV and City 