Mike Tyson is returning to the ring. Yes, you heard that right. Tyson will face Jake Paul in a boxing match on July 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

The YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul (9-1, 6 KOs) has said recently he wants to focus on fighting real boxers to eventually compete for a world title. Instead, he’ll fight long-retired Tyson (56-6, 44 KOs), a former heavyweight champion and one of the best in boxing history. His last competitive fight was almost 19 years ago, a TKO loss to Kevin McBride in June 2005. Tyson will be 58 when the fight takes place.

Tyson participated in an eight-round exhibition bout with Roy Jones Jr. in July 2020, and while the fight exceeded expectations, no one was clamoring for more. During the height of his career, Tyson was one of the most feared fighters in boxing and earned the moniker as the “Baddest Man on the Planet.” He was the undisputed heavyweight champion and still is the youngest fighter to win a heavyweight title in boxing history. After serving less than three years in jail for a rape conviction between 1992 and 1995, Tyson returned to the ring just five months later and, after two wins, regained the WBC title by defeating Frank Bruno in 1996.

After starting his boxing career facing fellow YouTubers and former MMA fighters, Paul, 27, lost a split decision to Tommy Fury in February 2023. Last August he faced another MMA fighter in Nate Diaz and stated he was going to change course with hopes of developing a true boxing career. He scored first-round KO wins over Andre August and Ryan Bourland since that point, fighting at the cruiserweight limit of 200 pounds.

All of this begs us to ask one question: Why is this happening?

Mike Coppinger, Marc Raimondi and Timothy Bradley Jr. share their thoughts.

Tyson might be old for a boxer, but time hasn’t eroded his star power one bit. Even though Tyson’s last professional fight took place in 2005, he remains one of the biggest names on the planet, not just in sports.

There’s also no doubt that Paul is one of the biggest social media stars out there. Add them together, and you have one massive event that’s sure to generate worldwide appeal, boxing purists be damned.

Netflix has upward of 260 million subscribers globally, and since this isn’t a PPV, there’s a chance this is the most-watched fight of this century. Seriously. Mayweather’s bout with Manny Pacquiao in 2015 shattered the PPV record with 4.6 million buys.

Long gone are the days of Muhammad Ali fighting on ABC in front of hundreds of millions. The Rumble in the Jungle was rumored to the most-viewed fight globally, but that was in 1974. And even for Tyson, the most popular fighter in the world since Ali — all his biggest fights were televised on PPV.

For the record, Tyson still looks the part, even at his advanced age. He’s in great shape and he still looks ferocious on the pads. Whether he can beat Paul, who is a much better boxer than given credit for, is a different story