Fans can't understand official fight rule for Jake Paul v Mike Tyson that will have huge impact on contest

Tonight’s the big night. The night two ‘legends’ take to the ring for the big fight that honestly feels like has been going on for decades at this point.

With a whole load of rules and fancy ticket packages being sold, the Jake Paul v Mike Tyson event this Friday night – well, the early hours of Saturday morning for us UK lot – is getting plenty of attention.

But fans just can’t get their heads around one of the official fight rules for the big boxing bout that will have a huge impact on the contest.

One of the rules for the Netflix event is that instead of the pair wearing the standard 10-ounce gloves worn for a heavyweight fight, they will be wearing 14-ounce gloves.

Basically, the heavier the glove is, then the more padding and the more shock absorbed by the glove – rather than the first and point of contact on the opposition fighter.

And people simply can’t understand why this would be put in place.

They finally go head-to-head tonight. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images for Netflix © 2024)

Plenty pointed out how this rule could benefit Paul and limit Tyson as one wrote: “Something that’s being overlooked in the upcoming Tyson and Paul fight is the 14oz gloves they’ll be using. I’m no boxer but larger gloves will limit Tyson’s power and give Paul a larger surface area to block with.

“They’ll also give an edge to Paul from an endurance standpoint—heavier gloves means you’ll tire more quickly with each punch. Not a fan of the rules in this one. It’s set up for Paul to outlast a 58-year-old man when the fight goes the distance.”

Another made the observation that legendary boxer Tyson’s KOs typically came wearing 10-ounce gloves.

“The biggest factor may be that they'll be using 14oz gloves... Tyson got all of his knockouts with the 10oz,” one wrote. “Or it may be that Tyson is 58 & Paul is 27...”

They'll wear heavier gloves for the fight. (Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Some just simply aren’t happy about the weird rule choice altogether, writing: "14-ounce gloves? So they’re just basically having a pillow fight?"

With another slamming: "14 oz is heavier than amateurs. 10 or 12 oz would've been great."

Others speculate the rule has been put in place to make sure the ‘fight goes the distance’ and are disappointed that a knockout looks ‘very unlikely’.

The undercard will begin at 8pm eastern time (ET) on Friday, which is 1am GMT on Saturday for UK viewers. The event will be streamed live on Netflix.