Mike Tyson made unusual rule request for Netflix fight vs Jake Paul that was approved by Texas Athletic Commission
Mike Tyson was the one who pushed for a controversial rule change in his upcoming fight with Jake Paul.
Everyone has been excited about the prospect of Iron Mike taking on the YouTuber since it was announced.
While some thought it might never go ahead with how long we’ve had to wait, it’s finally around the corner.
As the first-of-its-kind Netflix streamed event, Brits only have to wait until 4am for it to kick off at the AT&T Stadium in Texas, USA.
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Considering someone paid $2 million for a ticket and more than 70,000 people are expected to be in attendance, it’s surely going to be worth the watch.
But there’s something you may not know about the rules, which is all down to Tyson’s request.
The biggest ever American boxing event outside of Las Vegas will see there be shorter rounds and fewer of them too.
The rounds will be two minutes long instead of three, and there will be eight rounds in total instead of 12.
The rules for this fight are different than standard heavyweight fights, and their gloves will weight 14 pounds instead of 10.
As his first pro bout since his defeat to Ireland's Kevin McBride almost 20 years ago, Tyson has been scaring fans with his crazy eyes as he gears up for the win this time around.
'Iron Mike' put forward the request to the local commission to change the rounds, as he believes it’ll give fans more entertainment.
"I wanted shorter rounds for more action. If we have shorter rounds, we’ll fight more. More action," he has said when asked why he was requesting a rule change.
Nakisa Bidarian, co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions, shared: "It was [Tyson's] choice, not that Jake didn't want to do it [as a sanctioned fight].
"We were bringing Mike Tyson back into the sport, and I believe that it was more meaningful as a pro fight."
The 58-year-old has been showing off his hand speed in the run up to his fight against the 27-year-old YouTuber.
During his session at Tuesday's open workout, his fans were left amazed at how much he’s been preparing for the bout.
He went on to speak in the ring after the open workout, and said: "When I agreed to this fight and I started training, I said, 'What the [expletive] am I thinking of?'
"And I finished the process and now the fight's the party.
“All the hard work is done."
Both men have been battling with their tempers hours before the fight, with Iron Mike slapping Paul at their promo meet-up.
Considering Tyson hasn't fought in a pro setting since 2005, and only returned to action in 2020 when he came up against Roy Jones Jr in an exhibition, fans are excited to see him back in the ring.
Paul, who is relatively new, has 11 pro fights to his name and hasn’t been seen since his TKO victory over Mike Perry last July.
Let’s see how the shorter rounds benefit the competitors in tonight’s fight.
Topics: Sport, Jake Paul, Mike Tyson
Britt Jones