The fate of the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul bout appears to be uncertain.
Theories about whether the postponed bout would be rescheduled or canceled mounted Thursday with promoters having pledged to announce a new date by Friday.
On Thursday morning, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), which oversees combat sports, said no new date had been requested.
The spokesperson, Tela Mange, Communications Manager for the TDLR, said dates generally are approved the day they’re requested.
“Well, it would be a bad idea to announce a date before making sure that TDLR will approve it,” Mange, Communications Manager for the TDLR, told USA TODAY Sports by email. “If we don’t have appropriate staff available or we can’t approve the date for some other reason, they would have to change the date they wanted. Which is why they ask before they announce, and why we make every effort to approve or reject the date requested on the date a promoter requests it.”
The promoters still have time to make a request and announce a new date by their stated deadline of Friday.
The fight originally was scheduled to be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys, on July 20. It was postponed last week after Tyson said he needed more time to recover from an ulcer flare-up he suffered on a cross-country flight, according to his representatives.
Representatives for Tyson, Paul and the fight promoter did not immediately respond to USA TODAY Sports’ requests for comment Thursday left by voicemail and text message. Joe Trahan, director of media relations and corporate communications for the Cowboys, did not respond to requests seeking information on whether a new date for the fight had been submitted.
Tom Patti, a close friend and confidante of Tyson’s, said Tyson was looking for other possible opponents last week in case the fight with Paul falls through. Patti said he was with Tyson last week.
“While I was with him, we were looking at alternate names and other people,” Patti told USA TODAY Sports. “If Jake Paul wants to back out, then Mike will find someone else that’s suitable.”
Patti did not identify the names of other potential opponents. But he said he thinks Tyson won’t fight before November and indicated Paul may object.
“He’s looking forward to a fight and he’s looking forward to this fight in particular,” Patti said. “If not, he’ll find someone else. That’s a fact.”
A member of Tyson’s camp involved in the negotiations said they are not actively looking for any other opponent and they have heard no information about Paul pulling out. The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they said they were not authorized to speak publicly, said Patti is not involved in any of the negotiations with Netflix or Paul.
Publicly, Paul has continued to reiterate his hopes of fighting Tyson.
On Wednesday, Paul posted on his Instagram account a video of himself standing in a downpour and at one point howling into the sky. Text over the video read: “Jake Paul depressed after Mike Tyson pulled out.”
Also on Wednesday, a video posted on Tyson’s Instagram account showed him at a coffee house he opened last year in Amsterdam. But Tyson’s publicist, Jo Mignano, said the video footage from a visit made last September at the coffee house was posted by Tyson 2.0, the boxer’s cannabis company.
A link on the AT&T Stadium events page for tickets to the fight redirects to SeatGeek, the official online reseller. Tickets still are listed for sale on SeatGeek’s site.
