While a date for the sensational match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson has already been picked for November 15th, Paul and Amanda Serrano will look to stay busy in the meantime and have a date set for July 20th. Paul will be headlining the Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) card against former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) contender Mike Perry at the Amalie Arena situated in Tampa, Florida. Coincidentally, July 20th is the same date the original event between Paul and Tyson was supposed to take place at. The upcoming July 20th event will be broadcasted by DAZN.
By facing Mike Perry, Jake Paul (9-1, 6 KO’s) will be facing his 5th MMA opponent since he turned professional in 2020. Despite his upcoming match against Perry, Paul’s November 15th bout with Mike Tyson is still set to go through.
Perry distinguished himself during his MMA career as a tenacious fighter, especially in the UFC, and eventually moved to the Bare-Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) where he has gone undefeated;; winning all 5 of his matches there.
Though not new to pro boxing himself, Perry’s last professional bout occurred in 2015 and resulted in a knockout (KO) loss to American super welterweight (154 lbs) Kenneth McNeil (13-5, 10 KO’s).
Amanda Serrano (46-2-1, 30 KO’s) will further participate on the card as well before her own scheduled November 15th match against Katie Taylor (23-1, 6 KO’s) for her super lightweight (140 lbs) titles. In order to prepare for her astronomical leap from featherweight (126 lbs) to super lightweight, Serrano has picked American lightweight contender Stevie Morgan (14-1, 13 KO’s) as an opponent. The two will be fighting at 140 lbs and will not include any of Serrano’s three 126 lbs world titles; making it the first non-title bout Serrano will fight in since she faced Spanish fighter Miriam Guttierez in 2021.
Like Mike Perry, Stevie Morgan will also head into the match as the underdog and despite having few advantages does have some factors in her favor for her upcoming fight against Serrano. With a KO ratio of aprx. 92%, Morgan might just be the hardest-hitting puncher in the lightweight division. With a height of 5’8 ft. as opposed to Serrano’s approximate height of 5’5 ft., Morgan further retains an advantage when it comes to the size department.
However, it will very much be a curiosity to witness whether Morgan can carry her power to a weight class higher than she’s used to fight in.
The arrangement for Paul and Serrano to seek a fight in the interim before their November 15th Netflix-broadcasted fights can be considered a clever tactic to remain active, which will ultimately aid them as they will step into their November matches as the fitter fighters, while also continuing to build their brand as well as earn a decent paycheck in the process.
It is still unknown whether Mike Tyson and Katie Taylor will similarly look to take up bout before November 15th. In the case of Tyson―who will be 58 by June 30th, in particular, a tune-up fight of sorts might be sorely needed if he were to have serious intentions to engage in a professional bout against Jake Paul later this year.
However, Tyson will still be recovering from the ulcer-flare up that postponed his original-scheduled July 20th fight against Paul, and may not recover in time to both train for and take a fight in the interim leading up to November.
