IFRC Member“My wife keeps saying, ‘You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to do this.’ And I’m like, ‘No, I do have to do this,’ ” he tells me, stressing that the millions he’s reportedly making from the fight “will not change my life financially in any way.”
Netflix has promoted it as potentially the most watched combat-sports event in history—making Tyson the box-office bridge between boxing’s former glory and its brave new reality in the world of social media.
In March 2021, it was announced that Jamie Foxx will star in, and also executive produce the official scripted series Tyson. The limited series will be directed by Antoine Fuqua and executive produced by Martin Scorsese.
George liked China, so much so that when Zhang turned pro and moved to New Jersey, George stayed behind. Three years later, in 2017, Zhang, his career floundering, asked him to become his head trainer and George agreed.
Paul, with a record of 9-1 and six knockouts, has swiftly transitioned from YouTuber to a force to be reckoned with in the boxing arena. Despite a lone loss to Tommy Fury, Paul has defeated notable opponents such as Nate Diaz, Anderson Silva, and Tyron Woodley.
Those “real boxers” were unquestionably far below the level of Paul’s MMA foes like Diaz, Ben Askren and especially Anderson Silva, but Jake’s crossover events were losing steam. And it made some sense from a narrative standpoint. Knock out a few part-time boxers with built-up records — the same way star fighters like Canelo Alvarez and Gervonta Davis did on the way up — with an eye on title contention.
“I’m very much looking forward to stepping into the ring with Jake Paul,” Tyson said in the statement. “He’s grown significantly as a boxer over the years, so it will be a lot of fun to see what the will and ambition of a ‘kid’ can do with the experience and aptitude of a ‘GOAT’. It’s a full-circle moment that will be beyond thrilling to watch; as I started him on his boxing journey on the undercard of my fight with Roy Jones.
The Lanes agree. They see Zhang leading a new generation. “We always thought he could be the Yao Ming of boxing,” says Tommy. Under Armour signed on as a sponsor, and Baijiu, a popular Chinese liquor, could join them. Businesspeople in the country have expressed an interest in bringing a title fight to the mainland—the Bird’s Nest, Beijing’s 91,000-seat stadium, is the dream—and the Lanes have been looking for young Chinese fighters to fill Zhang’s undercards.
In 2020, while Zhang made a rare visit back home the day after Chinese New Year, his father died of a sudden cardiac arrest at home during COVID-19 lockdown in China. Zhang mistakenly believed his father to be choking and attempted the Heimlich maneuver to no avail.
What seemingly started as a money-driven decision from Paul has since developed into an apparent love for boxing, with the social media personality working hard to be taken seriously by those within the sport.
On February 18, 2022, in a class-action lawsuit filed against the cryptocurrency company SafeMoon that alleged the company is a pump and dump scheme, Paul was named as a defendant along with musician Nick Carter, rappers Soulja Boy and Lil Yachty, and social media personality Ben Phillips for promoting the SafeMoon token on their social media accounts with misleading information as part of the 2022 Safemoon fraud allegations. On the same day, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a lawsuit against Bitconnect that the Securities Act of 1933 extends to targeted solicitation using social media. In March 2022, YouTuber Coffeezilla uploaded a video in which he accused Paul of using cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens to scam his fans out of $2.2 million.
Before 2014, Zhang was a typical product of the Chinese state-centric sports development policy known as juguo tizhi (举国体制), with all his training schedule, coaching, insurance, housing, and meals arranged and paid for by the Henan Provincial Combat and Weightlifting Center. Hence, few Chinese boxers turn pro. The Henan Provincial Department of Sports secured public institution positions for athletes like Zhang should they retire in China.
The bout was first scheduled for July 20 but was postponed after Tyson, who had a scare on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles on May 26, and needed to receive medical attention, was advised to rest and to not return to training for a few weeks.
Ahead of the exhibition match against Mike Tyson at AT&T Stadium on July 20th, Jake Paul surprised the boxing world when he trained with boxers from Team USA at the Colorado Springs Olympic & Paralympic Training Center. The likes of Jennifer Lozano and Morelle McCane helped ‘The Problem Child’ at above 6000 feet. Undoubtedly, Paul proved that he was taking the Mike Tyson fight seriously. site in yahoo.com the wake of this incident, footage of Mike Tyson’s training has now been leaked!