Jake Paul and Mike Tyson began the hype and path toward their November 15 battle with a press conference in New York City on August 18, held as one of the final events of the three-day Fanatics Fanfest NYC.
Though the press conference began 40 minutes after it was originally scheduled to start, the Javits Center theater was packed to capacity and the crowd was raucous. From the moment Paul entered, he was mercilessly booed and jeered; meanwhile, Tyson received non-stop cheering throughout the event.
The press conference was hosted by Ryan Clark, who discussed the bout which he called the biggest boxing event in the world, bringing together six generations of boxing fans.
Both men expressed not just a desire, but a promise, to knock the other man out in their fight on November 15 in Dallas, Texas.
Paul claimed that he was the one who brought the fight’s lucrative Netflix deal to Tyson, claiming that it was Tyson who insisted the fight be sanctioned as it is.
Tyson responded by stating that he’s taken this fight because he can, calling it the best of all time vs. a YouTuber, which resulted in the crowd directing a “YouTuber!” chant at Paul multiple times during the press conference.
After just a couple of media questions, the two stared down, with some physicality appearing to show.
Paul vs. Tyson was originally scheduled to go down in July before Tyson suffered an ulcer flare up on a plane.
Paul enters this fight on a four-fight win streak, most recently stopping Mike Perry last month.
This will be Tyson’s first sanctioned pro fight since his loss to Kevin McBride in June 2005, which ultimately served as Tyson’s retirement bout. Tyson battled Roy Jones Jr. to an eight-round draw in an exhibition bout in November 2020.
