Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul fight rules including KOs, rounds and gloves

Mike Tyson and Jake Paul will clash in a professional boxing fight on Friday night - but some of the rules will be unfamiliar to boxing fans

Mike Tyson and Jake Paul will walk to the ring on Friday night in one of the most intriguing and controversial boxing fights in recent years.

The fight - between 58-year-old Tyson and 27-year-old Paul - was first announced in March, just before Anthony Joshua fought Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia. But the original date of July 20 fell by the wayside when Tyson was forced to postpone the bout after falling ill on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles.

The heavyweight legend suffered an inflamed ulcer and collapsed after coughing up blood. He was taken to hospital where he went as far as to ask the doctor whether he would live or die. But his fight with Paul was rearranged for this coming Friday and Tyson returned to training as he prepared for his first fight in four years, and his first professional outing in almost two decades.

And here, as the clock ticks down to the first bell, we take a look at the rules for the fight, with some of them not what many seasoned boxing fans might expect...

1. Rounds

Mike Tyson and Jake Paul will fight over eight two-minute rounds, despite the fight being billed as a professional contest. A heavyweight fight would normally be held over three-minute rounds but the fight follows the same rules as Tyson's fight with Roy Jones Jr in 2020. Indeed, it was Tyson who demanded the two-minute rounds, but not, he claims, because of his age. "I wanted the shorter rounds because I wanted more action,' Tyson said. 'If we only have two minutes, we'll fight more," he said.

2. Knockouts

One of the more bizarre rules for Mike Tyson's fight with Roy Jones Jr was that knockouts were not allowed. In the event, neither man came remotely close to doing that as they plodded to a a bore draw. But on Friday night, knockouts will very much be on the cards. Both men posted video footage of sparring sessions which appeared to show them dropping their sparring partners, but it remains to be seen whether Tyson still carries knockout power, and whether Paul is willing to risk the wrath of sports fans everywhere by knocking out their hero.

3. Gloves

If this were a 'normal' fight, Mike Tyson and Jake Paul would be wearing 10oz gloves for the heavyweight contest. But for reasons yet to be explained, they will instead be wearing 14oz mitts which have extra padding and are more commonly used in sparring and training. This rule is likely being enforced for safety reasons and could indeed lessen the likelihood of either man knocking out the other. Even for Tyson's fight with Roy Jones Jr, the legends wore 12oz gloves.

4. Scoring

Should Mike Tyson and Jake Paul both hear the final bell, the result of the fight will be decided by three ringside judges. They will each score each round 10-9 to either combatant, unless a knockdown is scored in which case a point is deducted from the fighter who hits the canvas. If a round is so close that a judge can't pick a winner, they can score it level at 10-10. The judges' scores will then be added up after the eight rounds are complete.