A controversial bout: Paul and Tyson look set to shake the boxing world

Seven fights are scheduled for fans, with the main event featuring two controversial figures from different generations.

YouTuber and professional boxer Jake Paul will face former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson - and the heavily promoted bout arouses different feelings in people but fulfills its purpose perfectly.

Money first

The fight was originally supposed to take place on 20th July, but due to Tyson's inflamed ulcer, it was postponed for a few months. The news of 'Iron Mike's' return to the ring caused a stir in the sports world, although not everyone welcomed it.

Tyson, who has a 50-6 record including 44 knockouts, was one of the most feared heavyweights in history but had not appeared in a professional fight since 2005. YouTuber Paul is 30 years younger and boasts a 10-1 record.

"I look forward to stepping into the ring against Jake Paul," Tyson said in a statement earlier this year. "He has grown tremendously over the years as a boxer, so it will be great fun to see what the will and ambition of a 'kid' can do with the experience and skill of the best of all time."

And it is precisely the huge age gap that probably bothers the critics the most.

Some don't want to see a legend of an extremely difficult sport lose to someone like Paul.

Others believe that Tyson would not even help himself if he won because he has nothing to gain from a sporting point of view, he can only lose. But the fact is that both sides have calculated the whole fight well.

Although there is still no official information on the prize money, Paul hinted at something.

"I'm here to earn 40 million and knock out a legend," he said recently.

Add to that the fact that the event will be broadcast by the hugely popular streaming service Netflix and that the venue will be the 80,000-capacity AT&T Stadium, it's clear that they won't be competing over pocket change.

Following in his brother's footsteps

The organisers are counting on the match attracting a different generation of spectators. While Paul is mostly in demand among the young, the surname Tyson may still appeal to those born a few years later, those who once watched his rise and fall on TV or in the newspapers, and nostalgia is a great marketing tool.

Speaking of marketing, we have already seen the image of a boxing legend going up against a 'spoilt internet starlet' (as the media portrays her, at least most of the time).

In July 2021, the Hard Rock Stadium in Florida was packed for a showdown between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Jake's brother Logan, who years ago built a vast empire on YouTube and has since drawn attention to himself with sporting feats as well as controversial videos.

The result? A draw and speculation that Mayweather had spared his opponent. The boxer himself later claimed that he did.

The figures confirm this: out of 107 punches, he hit his opponent 43 times (40.2%), while Logan was only hit 28 times (12.9%) out of 217 attempts.

But most importantly, both the organisers and the participants in the bout made money. Over a million PPV buys, worldwide broadcasts and rich prizes were speculated on for months.

Floyd is said to have earned £20 million for a simple advertisement on his shirts. But that is not all. Even before the fight there was already talk of a £33 million fee for the victory. A share of ticket sales and online streaming fees was also added to the income. The reward for Logan? About £14 million.

Both Pauls have teams of people around them who know how to sell and make good money. If you recently bought a supermarket energy drink with a 'P' at the beginning, Logan Paul will be thanking you from afar without you having to know who he is.

Sports shows, podcasts, social media posts, personal branding, all contribute to the huge PR spin of this fraternal duo.

But let's not forget that these guys have great sporting talent and prepare diligently for their fights. When Logan embarked on his professional wrestling career in the WWE organisation, he learned so quickly that he mastered in a few months what others had been trying to learn for years.

However, if one were to draw a comparison between the two brothers, Jake is no match for Logan in terms of mainstream popularity, and his encounter with the iconic Tyson could set him on a new trajectory.

After all, he has already caught up with his brother in terms of followers on Instagram (27 million) and is 'only' three million behind on YouTube.

So he sees the November meeting as a great opportunity to grow his brand. Like any good entrepreneur...