Mike Tyson

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations is sanctioning the scheduled bout between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul as an official fight. This just got serious. Tyson was clearly upset.

“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,” Most Valuable Promotions co-founder Nakisa Bidarian said to 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.”

Tyson reacted to the news on X:

Tyson’s age raised obvious questions about whether this would be an official fight or merely an exhibition. The former heavyweight champion will be 58 when he steps in the ring against Paul, 27, and his last professional fight was all the way back in 2005.

Tyson has since fought in two exhibitions, most recently going the distance for a draw with Roy Jones Jr. in November 2020.

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Mike Tyson

Jake Paul