After capturing a gold medal in her first event at the Milano Cortina Olympics, Dutch speed skater Jutta Leerdam entered Sunday’s women’s speed skating 500m race looking to capture her second.
However, this time, her teammate, Femke Kok of Team Netherlands, set an Olympic record to finish first and win gold. Leerdam was right there with her, crossing the finish line in second place and claiming a silver medal for her second medal of the two events she would compete in.
While Leerdam didn’t win gold, capturing another medal was still a thrilling moment, as her fiancé, Jake Paul, was among the spectators cheering her on and celebrating the finish. Several hours after the race concluded, Leerdam shared a surprising update with fans on social media.
Taking to her Instagram Story, Leerdam shared the IG post below, which celebrates her silver medal win on Sunday. However, she included a message on her IG Story slide, admitting she wasn’t 100 percent ahead of the race.
“What a day, I woke up sick yesterday. I don’t know how I pulled this off but glad I did,” she wrote, admitting to the significant challenge she faced ahead of winning her second medal.
In Sunday’s 500m race, Leerdam achieved a second-place time of 37.15 just ahead of bronze medalist Miho Takagi of Japan, who recorded a 37.27 time. Kok set the new Olympic record with her first-place time of 36.49 in the race.
Last week, Leerdam set an Olympic record, finishing with a time of 1:12.31 to claim the gold medal in the women’s 1000m speed skating event.
Her teammate, Femke Kok, finished second in that race’s results to win the silver, while Takagi won bronze there as well.
Along with her other Instagram updates, Leerdam shared a fun video of her and fiancé Jake Paul celebrating the joyous occasion of her winning two medals in Milano Cortina, Italy. The couple cozies up in the back of a fancy car with stars on the ceiling.
As upbeat music plays, Leerdam and Paul kiss before she shows off her two medals, and the couple dances around in their seats to the music.
Paul and Leerdam have been together since April 2023, when they made their relationship Instagram official. Paul proposed to Leerdam in March 2025, and they’ve remained engaged since then.
Sunday’s race was the final one of the 2026 Winter Olympics for Leerdam. Team Netherlands is currently behind the United States and tied for fourth place in the medal count with Sweden, with each country at 11 medals.
MILAN — U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said that it is hard to cheer for American Olympians who are speaking out against administration policies, calling one such critic “a real Loser” who perhaps should have stayed home.
It was the latest and most prominent example of U.S. Olympians at the Milan Cortina Games inviting online backlash with their words.
Reporters on Friday asked U.S. athletes at a news conference how they feel representing the country during the Trump administration’s heighted immigration enforcement actions. Freestyle skier Hunter Hess replied that he had mixed emotions since he doesn’t agree with the situation, and that he is in Milan competing on behalf of everyone who helped get him to The Games.
“If it aligns with my moral values, I feel like I’m representing it,” Hess said. “Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.”
Among those who piled on Hess were YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul.
“From all true Americans If you don’t want to represent this country go live somewhere else,” he wrote on X, where he has 4.4 million followers. Minutes later, he was photographed sitting beside U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the U.S women’s hockey game in Olympic host city Milan.
Trump said the next day that Hess’ comments make it hard to root for him.
“Hess, a real Loser, says he doesn’t represent his Country in the current Winter Olympics. If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it,” he wrote on his Truth Social account.
Hess wasn’t the only athlete voicing discontent – or facing blowback
At Friday’s news conference with the athletes, freestyle skier Chris Lillis referenced Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying he’s “heartbroken” about what is happening in the U.S.
“I think that, as a country, we need to focus on respecting everybody’s rights and making sure that we’re treating our citizens as well as anybody, with love and respect,” Lillis said. “I hope that when people look at athletes compete in the Olympics, they realize that that’s the America that we’re trying to represent.”
And U.S. figure skater Amber Glenn said the LGBTQ+ community has had a hard time during the Trump administration.
In addition to Paul, conservative figures criticizing the athletes on social media include former NFL quarterback Brett Favre, actor Rob Schneider and U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds – who Trump has endorsed for the Florida gubernatorial race in November. And there was a flood of vitriol directed at them from ordinary Americans.
Glenn posted on Instagram that she had received “a scary amount of hate / threats for simply using my voice WHEN ASKED about how I feel.” She added that she will start limiting her social media use for her well-being.
In response to questions from The Associated Press, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a statement Sunday that it is aware of an increasing amount of abusive and harmful messages directed toward the athletes and was doing its best to remove content and report credible threats to law enforcement.
“The USOPC stands firmly behind Team USA athletes and remains committed to their well-being and safety, both on and off the field of play,” it said.
Anti-ICE protests in Italy
Support for the U.S. abroad has eroded as the Trump administration has pursued an aggressive posture on foreign policy, including punishing tariffs, military action in Venezuela and threats to invade Greenland.
During the opening ceremony, Team USA athletes were cheered on, but jeers and whistles could be heard as Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, were shown on the stadium screens, waving American flags from the tribune.
In Milan, several demonstrations have broken out against the against the local deployment of ICE agents – even after clarification that they are from an investigations unit that is completely separate from the enforcement unit at the forefront of the immigration crackdown in the U.S.
Homeland Security Investigations, an ICE unit that focuses on cross-border crimes, frequently sends its officers to overseas events like the Olympics to assist with security. The ICE arm seen in the streets of the U.S. is known as Enforcement and Removal Operations, and there is no indication its officers were sent to Italy.
A demonstration on Saturday featured thousands of protesters. Toward its end, a small number of them clashed with police, who fired tear gas and a water cannon. That followed another one last week, when hundreds protested the deployment of ICE agents.
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Associated Press writer Graham Dunbar contributed to this report.
Vice President JD Vance sat with influencer and boxer Jake Paul as they watched the U.S. women’s hockey team ease to a 5-0 win over Finland at the Winter Olympics on Saturday.
Vance and his family entered during the intermission at the end of the first period, with the U.S. leading 1-0. Paul joined them shortly after. Paul’s fiancée, Jutta Leerdam, is a speedskater for the Netherlands at the Milano Cortina Games.
Vance sat with his youngest child, daughter Mirabel, on his lap. Usha Vance, wearing a sweatshirt with “USA” in big letters, clapped along to Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” before the second period started.
Vice President JD Vance attends a preliminary round match of women’s ice hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026.
Petr David Josek / AP
The vice president and his wife stood and clapped when the U.S. women’s team scored a goal. They were back on their feet, cheering a few minutes later when the U.S. women scored again.
Among those seated near Vance were 2010 Olympic figure skating gold medalist Evan Lysacek and hockey’s twin sisters, Hall of Famers Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando. They were members of the U.S. gold medal-winning team at the 2018 Winter Games.
It’s the second time that Vance has watched the U.S. women’s team at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
He was also at the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena on Thursday, when the U.S. beat Czechia 5-1 in its opening game of the preliminary round.
Over the weekend, online personality Jake Paul and “manosphere” social media personality Andrew Tate each suffered high-profile losses in separate boxing bouts.
Pro boxer Anthony Joshua knocked out Paul in Round 6 on Friday night at the Kaseya Center in Miami, breaking the YouTuber’s jaw in the process.
The following night, Tate faced off against Netflix star and influencer Chase DeMoor for Tate’s professional boxing debut in Dubai.
Here’s what happened in both boxing matches.
Jake Paul reports double broken jaw after KO loss to Anthony Joshua
US boxer and influencer Jake Paul (L) and British boxer Anthony Joshua fight in a non-title heavyweight bout at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida on December 19, 2025.
Giorgio VIERA / AFP via Getty Images
Anthony Joshua knocked out Jake Paul in the sixth round of their heavyweight fight on Friday night.
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Joshua established pace against Paul from the opening round, as neither fighter engaged early. Midway through the first round, Paul threw an overhand right that Joshua blocked with his glove.
Paul scored with a short right to the head early in the fourth. Later in that round, Paul awkwardly fell to the ground twice as he again attempted to cut distance during close exchanges.
Referee Christopher Young counts over US boxer and influencer Jake Paul as he sits on the floor during his fight against British boxer Anthony Joshua (L) in a non-title heavyweight bout at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, on December 19, 2025.
Giorgio VIERA / AFP via Getty Images
The two-time heavyweight champion dropped Paul twice in the fifth round and rocked him with a right uppercut early in the sixth.
Joshua then floored Paul with a combination to the head, and although the YouTuber got back on his feet, Joshua dropped him a fourth time with a right to the head.
Referee Christopher Young counted Paul out at 1:31 of the round in front of a capacity crowd of 19,600 people.
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“It took a little bit longer than expected but the right hand finally found its destination,” Joshua said after the fight. “Jake Paul’s done really well tonight. I’m going to give him his props. He got up time and time again. I give Jake the respect for trying and trying. He came up against a real fighter tonight.”
“As we saw tonight, Jake has spirit,” Joshua said. “He has some heart and I take my hat off to him.”
With the victory, Joshua now can angle to reclaim the heavyweight title he lost against Oleksandr Usyk.
“I gave it my all,” Paul said. “Anthony is a great fighter and I got my ass kicked but that’s what this sport is all about. But I’m going to come back and keep winning.”
“I think my jaw is broken, by the way,” Paul as he spit blood to the floor. “It’s definitely broke. But that was a nice little ass-whooping from one of the best to ever do it.”
“I love this s–t and I’m going to come back and get a world championship belt,” Paul told Ariel Helwani. “We will heal the broken jaw, come back and fight people my weight.”
Jake Paul has surgery for ‘double broken jaw’ after loss to Anthony Joshua
Paul, 28, who embarked upon his boxing career in January 2020, said his jaw was broken in two places after his loss to Joshua.
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“Double broken jaw,” Paul wrote on Instagram, sharing a photo of an x-ray of his jaw. “Give me Canelo in 10 days.”
In a separate post from what appeared to be a hospital room alongside his brother, Logan, Paul wrote, “Thanks for all the support I’m OK.”
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He then updated his fans later and let them know that “surgery went well.”
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“2 titanium plates on each side. Some teeth removed. Have to have only liquids for 7 days,” Paul captioned another post on Instagram.
Paul had originally targeted an exhibition in Miami with lightweight champion Gervonta Davis last month, but Davis encountered legal problems that scrapped the event. Paul quickly pivoted and landed the bout against Joshua in the same venue.
Chase DeMoor beats Andrew Tate in Misfits Boxing 23 match
Influencer Andrew Tate, 39, and Too Hot To Handle star Chase DeMoor, 29, faced off in the main event of Misfits Boxing 23 on Dec. 20 live on Rumble Premium inside the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium in Dubai.
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In the first round, Tate, a former kickboxer, took a few jabs at DeMoor — not a professional boxer — who threw right hands at Tate through the second.
By the third round, DeMoor started landing the right hand and Tate’s fatigue appeared to set in during the fourth round.
“I’m 10 years out, 40 years old, gave it my all but he’s tough. I don’t know what to say. He’s really tough,” Tate said post-fight. “It’s better to try and lose than not try at all.”
When asked if fans will be able to see Tate in the ring again, he said, “I’m gonna have to go back and watch the fight, make a decision… but Chase deserves this win.”
Andrew Tate speaks after his loss to Chase DeMoor:
“10 years out, 40 years old, gave it my all but he’s tough. It’s better to try and lose than to not try at all.”pic.twitter.com/NS1uNwpP3m
“For all the nobody’s [sic],” DeMoor captioned an Instagram post after his win over Tate.
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DeMoor has won five of his fights on the Misfits boxing platform (MFB), and kept the MFB heavyweight title three times.
Tate issues statement after boxing debut
Tate admitted that DeMoor won the fight “fair and square” as he addressed his loss on social media.
“99.9% of 40-year-old men with 700 million dollars sit around with wh—s. I could have done the same and talked sh– on the Internet and took no risks and just live easy,” Tate wrote on X. “In my heart I knew I’m too old. I knew I’d been out too long. That’s why I had to do it.”
Tate said he went through with the fight to “face fear.”
“I can’t live scared. I have to know I faced it. I lost fair and square. Chase is a true champion. A warrior – I’m proud of him. He deserves the belt,” Tate added.
99.9% of 40 year old men with 700 million dollars sit around with whores.
I could have done the same and talked shit on the Internet and took no risks and just lived easy.
In another post, Tate shared a video speaking about people being “so afraid to live that they’re already dead.”
“I didn’t have to do this but this had to be done,” he said in the nearly two-minute video featuring clips from the fight. “It’s either the risk of losing or it’s the permanent dull ache of ‘what if.’”
Tate said he’s not “afraid to lose” but he was “afraid to not try.”
“The only way I’d be disappointed in myself is if I was too scared to fight at all,” he continued. “And when I first agreed to fight, there was a conversation and everyone said, ‘Andrew, you’re 40 years old, you just got out of jail. You’ve been through so much. You have so many problems. There’s so much going on. Why would you do this? What would you risk it all? Why would you get in there?’”
Tate said he felt “a tinge of fear for the first time in my life.”
“And that’s when I knew I had to fight. I’m not a ‘what if guy.’ I would rather go through the pain of a fight camp and the risk of a fight than live the rest of my human years with a dull ache of what could I have been? What could I have done? Heroes fight. Even if I knew I was going to lose, I would still fight because this is who I am,” he added.
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Most people are so afraid to live that they’re already dead.
Social media is buzzing over Anthony Joshua KNOCKING OUT Jake Paul in the 6th Round of Netflix’s highly anticipated Jake vs. Joshua: Judgment Day fight that delivered the goods in front of a star-studded crowd at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.
Towering over Paul at 6’6″, Joshua–a two-time unified WBO, WBA, and IBF heavyweight World Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist–knocked the Sonic rings out of the MAGA youtuber-turned boxer in a now-viral moment immediately immortalized in boxing history.
According to reports, Paul suffered a fractured jaw in two places that required surgery, the removal of teeth, and two titanium plates.
Whew, did he at least pinch Joshua??
Paul confirmed the ‘double broken jaw’ from his hospital bed, thanking supporters for the love in a post that summed up his miserable night.
“Just got out of surgery. Everything went smooth,” wrote Paul. “Thanks for all the love. Lots of pain and stiffness. Gotta eat liquids for 7 days.”
As for Joshua, well, he celebrated the victory like a true gentleman and was nice enough to give his battered opponent props.
“I wish that I could have knocked him out at the start, but as we saw tonight, Jake has spirit,” he said in a post-game interview.
“He has some heart. He tried his best, and I take my hat off to him because number one, a lot of fighters haven’t got in the ring with me, and Jake did. And secondly, even when he got knocked down, he kept on trying to get up, and I take my hat off to him.
So, America, I think you have someone who could potentially, if he still has the heart for it, come back again, dust the dirt off his shoulder, and come again, and maybe sell out this center sometime in 2026.”
Naturally, the buzzy bout fueled hilarious hysteria (along with every single possible angle of Anthony knocking Jake’s head off) across social media.
What was your reaction to Anthony Joshua knocking out Jake Paul? Would you want to see Anthony Joshua in a Creed movie? Tell us down below and peep the social media hysteria over Anthony’s jaw-breaking win on the flip.
If you’ve been waiting for Jake Paul to finally shut his mouth, it’s now wired shut after Anthony “AJ” Joshua dropped him like a bad habit with a “double broken jaw” for a knockout victory. Social media is in shambles over the infamous instigator’s winning streak finally coming to an end.
Source: Leonardo Fernandez / Getty
The content creator-turned-sports spectacle could run around the ring at the Kaseya Center in Miami, but he couldn’t hide from the hands of the two-time heavyweight unified boxing champion. During the livestreamed Netflix match, Joshua politely let Jaw-jacking Jake run down the clock for the first four rounds, in an attempt to tire out the 6’6″ giant.
Instead of exhausting the British bruv, Paul hit the ground more than singles at a strip club with bizarre takedown attempts. He clearly didn’t want any real smoke, but ran out of gas after a few dozen laps around the ring. That might’ve worked with the retired stars he faced in the past, but AJ reminded the world he’s still very much in his prime.
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Instead of throwing off AJ, who won 25 of his 28-4 record by knockout, these stunts only seemed to piss him off more. With a comeback after a 15-month hiatus, the Olympic gold medalist patiently took his time to wear down the social media sensation and drop him in the fourth, fifth, and sixth rounds. Some believed it took too long, but AJ didn’t disappoint in delivering a knuckle sandwich that put Paul on his knees and sent him to the hospital.
While the former Disney star tried to keep his eye on the prize, his jaw ended up in three pieces and almost in the next zip code.
Even though AJ enjoyed a decisive comeback victory over the loudmouth menace, he was a class act about his opponent in the post-fight interview. He couldn’t deny that it was his fight to lose, but still gave Paul respect for (partially) standing against him in the ring and continuing to get back up.
“Jake [did] well while it lasted… I wish that I could have knocked him out at the start, but as we saw tonight, Jake has spirit. He has some heart. He tried his best, and I take my hat off to him because number one, a lot of fighters haven’t got in the ring with me, and Jake did,” AJ said.
“And secondly, even when he got knocked down, he kept on trying to get up, and I take my hat off to him. So, America, I think you have someone who could potentially, if he still has the heart for it, come back again, dust the dirt off his shoulder, and come again, and maybe sell out this center sometime in 2026,” he continued.
As for the unbothered underdog, he still had plenty to say on social media. He took to X, formerly Twitter to confirm that his jaw is broken in two places and posted the X-ray evidence, as if the fight photos weren’t proof enough.
“Double broken jaw. Give me Canelo in 10 days,” Paul wrote.
Welp, his face may not be intact, but at least his sense of humor still is. And part of Paul not hurting might be his pockets since he’s a cofounder of MVP, the promoter for the event.
Whether viewers love Jake Paul or love to hate him, this viral fight still makes him a winner of the night (outside the ring). His company, Most Valuable Promotions, “set a new record as the highest-grossing boxing gate in history of the Kaseya Center,” according to Variety. Money isn’t everything, but it should ease some of the pain when he’s sipping his NYE champagne toast through a straw.
And for those who accuse Paul of everything from disrespecting the sport of boxing and its greatest legends to rigging the fights in his undefeated record, this knockout is a priceless early Christmas gift.
What do you think of the Anthony Joshua vs. Jake Paul fight?
Former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua defeated YouTuber-turned-fighter Jake Paul by knockout in the sixth round of their much-anticipated bout at the Kaseya Center in Miami late Friday night.
Although the 36-year-old Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs) had not fought since September 2024, when he was knocked out by Daniel Dubois in five rounds, he came in as the prohibitive favorite to derail the 28-year-old Paul’s ambitious fight plans. However, Paul (12-2, 7 KOs) lasted longer than many experts predicted, nearly taking Joshua the distance in what was scheduled as an eight-round fight.
Anthony Joshua punches Jake Paul in their heavyweight bout during Jake Paul v Anthony Joshua at Kaseya Center on Dec. 19, 2025, in Miami, Florida.
Ed Mulholland/Getty Images for Netflix
And prior to the fight, Joshua told CBS Sports that he would consider it “a failure” if the match went longer than one round.
“Jake Paul has done really well tonight,” Joshua said, according to CBS Sports. “I want to give him his props. He got up time and time again. It was difficult in there for him, but he kept trying to find a way. It takes a real man to do that.”
In their photo standoff Wednesday, the 6-foot-6 Joshua towered over the 6-foot-1 Paul. Joshua also had a six-inch reach advantage, 82-76. In addition, 12 of Paul’s previous bouts had been at the 200-pound cruiserweight limit.
Joshua weighed 243 pounds at their Thursday weigh-in, while Paul was 216.
In a Truth Social post, President Trump said he watched the fight while flying back to Washington from a rally in North Carolina.
“On the plane I just got to watch the Jake Paul Fight, and he did really well, especially as a display of GREAT Courage against a very talented and large Anthony Joshua,” Mr. Trump wrote. “Fantastic Entertainment, but Kudos to Jake for his Stamina, and frankly, Ability, against a much bigger man!”
Paul’s ability to entice 58-year-old Mike Tyson to fight him last year further enhanced the circus-like atmosphere that often define his bouts. Yet, the bout against the legendary heavyweight champion, which Paul won by unanimous decision, attracted 72,300 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The fight also generated a reported 108 million global views.
Joshua, who also won an Olympic gold medal representing his native England in the 2012 Summer Games, understood his perceived role as a boxing savior against Paul.
“It just seems I’ve been called in to save the purest of boxing,” Joshua said prior to the fight. “People don’t like the fact that I’m fighting Jake. Whether that concerns me or not is another question. If we look at the people that don’t want me to be here, they want me to put an end to the Jake Paul show. That’s why I have to carry boxing on my back with this fight.”
Joshua’s bout against Paul was his second in the United States. Joshua succeeded in leaving the ring Friday with a better outcome than in his debut, when Andy Ruiz Jr. knocked him out in seven rounds to end his first heavyweight reign six years ago at Madison Square Garden.
Dave Chappelle is delivering a holiday treat for standup fans by surprise dropping a new Netflix special called “The Unstoppable.”
Before the main event during the Dec. 18 Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua fight night, Chappelle stopped by the livestream with a short clip to announce the news.
“I wanted to shout out my hometown, Washington, D.C., and thank everybody that came out in October to support me at that show,” Chappelle said in the video. “I just want you to know that show will be streaming on Netflix tonight after the fight. My new special drops, and I hope you love it. Thank you very much.”
Chappelle has had a long professional relationship with Netflix. This upcoming program will be his eighth standup special with the streamer, following “The Age of Spin,” “Deep in the Heart of Texas,” “Equanimity,” “The Bird Revelation,” “Sticks & Stones,” “The Closer” and “The Dreamer.” Netflix also released a recorded speech the comedian gave at his alma mater, the Duke Ellington High School of Arts, titled “What’s in a Name?”
The Paul vs. Joshua fight brought Netflix notables and other celebrities ringside in Miami, including Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria, director Benny Safdie, comedians Bert Kreischer and Matt Rife, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, singer Shaggy and more. In addition to the main event, earlier matches included Alycia Baumgardner defeating Leila Beaudoin, Anderson Silva defeating Tyron Woodley and Jahmal Harvey defeating Kevin Cervantes.
As for the fight itself? Joshua ended up the winner by knockout, with Paul lasting six rounds.
Jake Paul is about to make some major bank in his upcoming fight. The YouTuber is set to fight heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua after a couple of delays .
The younger Paul brother faced greats like Tommy Flurry and even the ultimate boxing legend Mike Tyson in record-breaking matches. Paul made it clear money was not his ultimate goal, telling Fox Business in an interview, “I like the challenge of making the money,” he told the outlet. “And I like the challenge of accomplishing something that I don’t even think that I could even possibly do.”
Now with a new challenge for his 12-1 reign, how much does he earn from each fight?
How much does Jake Paul make from Netflix?
Jake Paul is estimated to be receiving $92 million from his fight with Anthony Joshua on Netflix. The Daily Mail reported that the fight can earn up to $2185 million and will be equally shared among the fighters, no matter who wins.
How much did Jake Paul make from his Mike Tyson fight on Netflix?
Despite several technical difficulties during the livestream of Jake Paul and Mike Tyson’s fight, Jake Paul reportedly received $40 million. Tyson received half of that money at $20 million.
Paul teased his payout at a press conference for the fight on Aug. 18, 2024. “I’m here to make $40 million and knock out a legend,” he said.
As to what he spent the prize money on, he revealed that he bought a $39 million ranch.
“It wasn’t like right away after the Tyson fight, but I’ve been wanting to buy a ranch for the past 15 years,” he recalled on The Iced Coffee Room.” It’s kind of been my dream and why I work so hard. I think it’s just I love everything to do with it, hunting, jet skiing, ATVs, fishing, horses, cows, and all that stuff.”
Photo: Eva Marie Uzcategu/Getty Images for Netflix
Jake Paul is being very emo in his pre-bout trash talk. “I want him to cut me up, I want him to break my face,” he said of upcoming opponent Anthony Joshua, “but guess what, he’s gonna have to kill me to stop me, and I’m ready to die. Seriously, ready to die in the ring to win this fight.” Do you still technically win a fight if you’re dead? Sure there’s that ancient Greek wrestler, but that story seems apocryphal at best. TMZ reported the press conference, held ahead of their December 19 fight in Miami.
Paul was originally scheduled to fight WBA lightweight champ Gervonta “Tank” Davis last Friday, but that match was called off after Davis was accused of intimate partner violence inalawsuit. It’s a big change for Paul, who had been expecting to box against someone much smaller than him in an exhibition match. He’s now going into a sanctioned heavyweight fight against someone bigger and more experienced than him. Joshua is a former Olympic gold medalist and two-time unified heavyweight champion.
Joshua is on-board with Paul’s plan of getting his face broken. “If I’m being honest, I’m going to break his face,” he said, “I’m going to break his body up, I’m going to stomp all over him.”
You can watch this all-over stompage live on Netflix, by the by. The pair will face off at Kaseya Center in Miami. The live-streamed fight is scheduled for eight 3-minute rounds. Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, doesn’t like Paul’s odds. “They say be careful what you wish for, kind of feel like that’s all I need to say,” Hearn said in a statement obtained by ESPN. “Two of the biggest names in the sport will collide on Dec 19. Whilst I admire Jake’s balls, he’s going to find out the hard way in Miami.”
ATLANTA (AP) — YouTuber-turned-cruiserweight boxer Jake Paul and undefeated WBA lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis have agreed to fight on Nov. 14 at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena.
Paul’s promotional company, Most Valuable Promotions, and Netflix announced the highly unusual matchup Wednesday. Netflix will stream the fight worldwide to its more than 300 million subscribers.
The 30-year-old Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs), a three-division world champion, would be the first star near his ostensible prime to face Paul (12-1, 7 KOs), the online celebrity who has become one of the world’s highest-paid combat sports athletes despite never fighting an elite boxer.
Netflix and Nakisa Bidarian, Paul’s business partner, did not refer to the fight as an exhibition, but it’s unclear how Georgia officials would allow the matchup to be held as a competitive bout, given the fighters’ dramatic difference in size and experience.
Paul typically weighs more than 200 pounds in the ring, while Davis is a 135-pound champion who has never fought above 140 pounds. The fighters did not announce a contracted weight or the number of rounds in their planned bout.
The fight would mark a return to Netflix for the 28-year-old Paul, whose victory last November over the then-58-year-old Mike Tyson drew an estimated 108 million viewers globally.
Instead of pursuing a cruiserweight belt, Paul recently discussed a fight with two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua — a more logical opponent in terms of size and strength — but shifted his focus to the popular Davis. who has jousted with Paul on social media for years.
Perhaps Paul can look inside his own family for a plan: His older brother, Logan, weighed 189 pounds before fighting Floyd Mayweather at 155 pounds in an eight-round exhibition bout in 2021. Promoters said the spectacle sold more than 1 million pay-per-view buys and made more than $80 million.
Davis has been billed by his promoters as “the modern day Mike Tyson” because of the frequency with which he has won by knockout, but his career and life have been rocky in 2025. He struggled to a shocking draw against Lamont Roach Jr. in his most recent ring outing in March, and he was arrested on a domestic violence charge in Florida last month before the misdemeanor battery case was dropped last week.
Bidarian said Paul and Davis are “favorites of the Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences,” and that their bout will “determine the true face of boxing’s next generation.”
“This isn’t just a fight, it’s a spectacle that brings together two of the most electrifying figures in boxing today,” Netflix vice president Brandon Riegg said.
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Jake Paul trash-talked New York City during Fanatics Fest on Sunday as he faced off with boxing legend Mike Tyson for the first time since their match was rescheduled.
Thousands packed into the Jacob Javits Center on Aug. 18 to see Tyson and Paul trade verbal barbs ahead of their Nov. 15 fight in Texas. The event even drew notable figures like Logan Paul and Mayor Eric Adams.
Upon the fighters entering either side of the Fanatics Fest Theater stage, journalist Ryan Clark questioned Paul’s motivation to face off with one of the most vicious boxers in the world to which the social media star turned boxer stated, “to make history.”
Mike Tyson enters the stage on the watchful gaze of a Jake Paul sign. Photo by Dean MosesJake Paul says “F*ck New York” after he is greeted by a chorus of boos.Photo by Dean Moses
“Making history is what it is all about for me. I’m a kid from Ohio,” Paul responded to a deafening chorus of boos. The internet star then made things a little too personal with the Big Apple.
“New York, you are just like Mike Tyson, you were good 20 years ago. F*ck you New York, dumb a** Democratic city,” Paul said.
Tyson, the Brookly native, was once considered boxing’s biggest villain — but he got a hero’s welcome at Fanatics Fest, where the hometown crowd cheered and beckoned him to “f*ck Jake up.”
Logan Paul attends the press conference. Photo by Dean MosesMike Tyson was a man of few words at the press conference. Photo by Dean Moses
During the press conference, Tyson was a man of few words, stating that he was feeling much better after having to postpone the fight due to a medical issue. Tyson even made light of the press conference, smiling and giving sarcastic responses like “I was terrified” when Clark questioned if he was really sick or just afraid to face Jake Paul in the ring.
The legendary boxer did state that it was due to his fame that the fight between the men has become a media sensation.
“Who else is he going to fight to make this happen?” Tyson said pointing at the crowd. “You got a Youtuber fighting the greatest fighter that ever lived.”
The press conference with their shoving one another while Tyson laughed in Paul’s face.
Tyson couldn’t help but laugh at Paul during the face off.Photo by Dean MosesPaul became enraged and pushed Tyson for laughing in his face. Photo by Dean MosesMike Tyson and Jake Paul face off for the first time since their match was postponed.Photo by Dean Moses
Tana Mongeau has been a household name in the YouTube community for over a decade now. Growing up, I’d spend hours watching her wild story-times detailing otherworldly scenarios. Although her stories were often NSFW, Tana continued to build a brand for herself: one that was riddled with scandal and clout.
She married Jake Paul on MTV in an admitted scheme to get more clout. She hosted a failed TanaCon that stranded fans, resulting in an apology video and a climb back to the good graces of the public. And her lore goes back years.
Now, Tana Mongeau is the face of The Cancelled Podcast: the fourth most popular podcast in the United States behind heavy-hitters like The Tucker Carlson Show, The Joe Rogan Experience, and Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy.
The podcast itself is a massive success partially thanks to the honest discourse between co-hosts Brooke Schofield and the aforementioned Mongeau. The pair discuss current events in pop culture (often that they’re directly involved in), have regular guests like fellow social media icon, Trisha Paytas, or even singers like Jelly Roll and his wife, Bunny.
But what the duo is most famous for is their drama. They’re not afraid to expose ex-boyfriends and failed dates, they will detail harsh encounters with other girls in the social media influencing industry, and they won’t hold back on anything. Even if they’re being discreet, fans will decode their stories and find the redacted names on Reddit.
Recently, The Cancelled Podcast has soared into public eye beyond the norm. Sure, the podcast was always great…but now, they’re dripping with headlines for news sources everywhere. It starts with Brooke Schofield.
You may have never heard of Clinton Kane either, but he’s a singer (allegedly) hailing from Australia. Brooke has offhandedly mentioned her relationship with Clinton Kane a few times over the course of the podcast…but only recently has she fully exposed him.
After Kane posted a TikTok admonishing Schofield for continuing to “yap” about him while he’s moved on, Schofield returned the fire with a fourteen part TikTok series on their relationship. In the series she titles “Who The F*** Did I Marry?”, she details how Clinton Kane actually isn’t from Australia, and that he had been faking the death of his mother for years, all while gaslighting Schofield into believing him.
Schofield claims Kane painted a childhood with a rich family, a Norwegian, blonde mother who doubled as a Hillsong (yes, that church) pastor. She also provides voice memos where Kane’s Australian accent ebbs and flows, sometimes just falling into an American accent. Another story she tells talks about how Kane got pulled over and the ID he gave the officer had a different birthdate on it than the one he had given her, to which he claimed was a fake ID.
The series sparked a social media whirlwind. Everyone had to know what the truth was…and as more and more women came out with similar stories about Kane, Schofield emerged a clear winner. However, the drama never ends there. Kane had to post his own rebuttal on the social media platform.
In a back-and-forth, he-said-she-said moment, Kane versus Schofield took place in front of the entire world. Publications like Rolling Stonepicked up the story…like I said, national news.
Tana Mongeau and Cody Ko
And even more recently, Tana Mongeau has been making headlines for her involvement with fellow YouTuber Cody Ko when she was a minor. While Schofield and Mongeau were touring their podcast, a clip went viral of Mongeau joking about how she slept with Ko when she was a minor.
Ko and Mongeau have made multiple YouTube videos together in the past throughout their careers. Both of them have seen immense success- Ko, from reaction videos and his podcast alongside Noel Miller, and of course Mongeau’s own successes. Alarm bells should have been raised years ago, and more concern should be shown about underage content creators who are coming up in the industry.
And for a while, everything continued as normal after that clip. That was until YouTuber D’Angelo Wallace released a video titled “An uncomfortable conversation about Cody Ko.” this month. Then, everyone started finally speaking up in defense of Mongeau.
It begs an interesting question: why did it take Wallace’s video for us to condemn Cody Ko? Why does everyone suddenly care now when this has been a generally open problem for years?
While both issues have been addressed on The Cancelled Podcast, the public has been obsessed with Schofield and Mongeau’s life. With their wholehearted honesty and raw discussions about their lives, their drama, and everything in between, this won’t be the end of them.
U.S. surgeon general Vivek Murthy has called for warning labels on social media platforms similar to those on tobacco or alcohol, stating that social media preys on developing brains and contributes to excessive use. What do you think?
“He’s going to lose a lot of followers over this.”
After a press conference for his upcoming fight with Mike Tyson, Jake Paul posted a video to Instagram showing turbulence in his private jet and claiming that it had been struck by lightning. What do you think?
“Clearly not enough.”
Braden Macgregor, Tree Debarker
Report: Guy Riding Weird Thing
“Is he the shitty brother or the terrible one?”
Taio Gibbs, Fish Sitter
“Lucky. Near-death experiences are great for engagement.”
“I’m living my life disciplined now, so I’m going to have to fight disciplined now,” he said.
Tyson, during a 2018 TV interview, said he’d abstained from sex for about five years, apparently because he believed it would make him a better boxer.
“I’m an idiot, you know,” he told Graham Bensinger during the interview back then. “… I just went by what people told me.”
Tyson’s publicist told USA TODAY Sports the boxer was giving up marijuana to comply with rules in the fight with Paul. Marijuana is on the list of banned substances enforced by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which oversees combat sports in Texas.
Mike Tyson arrives on the red carpet before the 2023 ESPYS at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on July 12, 2023.
The feeling of being somewhere overwhelmingly positive is unusual. In 2024, it seems ever-more likely that even the most upbeat of events would be coated in a veneer of cynicism, if not outright skepticism. But at the Pokémon Europe International Championships (EUIC), every person I spoke to was bubbling with unadulterated happiness just to be there. And for all of them, without exception, it was a love for Pokémon that was driving this preternatural positivity.
April’s EUIC was, according to some who have been attending the championships for years, the largest ever. Official figures suggest over 10,000 people attended the three-day event in London’s ExCel Center, 4,500 of them competitors in the various fields, from the card game to the video games. And yet, despite such huge numbers of people, it all felt undeniably lovely. There were no reports of incidents, no flipped tables, and a pervading feeling of calm throughout. As a world-leading misanthrope, sporting a heavy cold, I was fascinated to feel this way. I was determined to find out why.
Photo: Kotaku
Cultivating an atmosphere
“I just love Pokémon!” says one splendid lady I meet, dressed as Gothorita, accompanied by her daughter (cosplaying Gothita), and a childhood friend dressed up, appropriately, as trainer Caitlin. The three of them are here spectating, despite often playing the trading card game (TCG) at their local Geek Retreat. “It’s like my childhood,” Gothorita adds.
This is the central sentiment among so many people I spoke to. So many people citing Pokémon as the special factor, the colorful exuberance of a child-focused franchise overriding the more aggressive cultures associated with video games and TCGs. Magic: The Gathering meet-ups, say, are unquestionably fantastic spaces, but the nature of the base game doesn’t exude a sense of family-first. Here, everyone has to at least tacitly acknowledge they’re gathering because of a shared passion for the cartoon electric mouse and his magical friends.
I plopped myself down next to two guys who’d just finished a day-one round of what the locals call “VGC,” meaning battling teams in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. The winner of the match was Simon Van der Borght, known in Pokémon circles as Shmon, a sometimes-commentator and judge for the events. The Belgian player, dressed in a spectacularly garish Pokémon-emblazoned jacket, bubbled with excitement about the event. Shmon enthused about the EUIC, talking about how it’s grown in scale over the years, and about how many friends he’s made through attending and competing. “It really makes me happy!” he declared. I asked him about his first time playing competitively, and he used a term that I’d hear again and again over the event. “Immediately I fell in love with the atmosphere.”
“The atmosphere” was almost everyone’s first answer when I asked why they were enjoying their time here. It’s an intangible thing, hard to qualify or pin down, but I think it captures senses of safety, comfort, and positivity. There’s an idea that things aren’t wrong here, that no matter what waits outside the enormous convention center, in here we’re good. We’re good people, doing a fun thing, with no judgment. “It makes my heart flutter to see these people!” Shmon declares, “and even when they’re not doing well, still enjoy their time with Pokémon! This community is so strong and so nice to each other that I really love coming back time and time again.”
Photo: Kotaku
The community is lovely!
Speaking of people who’ve come back time and again, I grabbed a chance to chat with the man behind legendary Pokémon site Serebii—Joe Merrick—as well as long-time Pokémon commentator and YouTuber Ross Gilbert, better known as PTCGRadio. Both have been attending the EUIC since it started, since they were in “the event room of a theme park” as Gilbert puts it. “You’re talking 150 people total in the room, and it’s very much a school trip kind of atmosphere. Yeah, everyone’s having fun, but it’s very quiet. Whereas here, it’s a celebration. You walk around the room, there’s people trading, people drawing, there’s people playing side events…”
Merrick and Gilbert are no strangers to controversy, and to the far more toxic nature of online communities. Serebii receives an inconceivable amount of negativity and vitriol, with new Twitter storms brewing every other day. But both say that here, in person, there’s none of that. “It’s indicative of the Pokémon community in general,” says Merrick. “Yeah, I mean, it gets a lot of hate online, because—you know—people are negative online, and [so] people say, ‘Oh this community is terrible.’ But when you’re actually in a room with the actual community, the community is lovely!”
Both are overwhelmed by the growth of the event. 2023’s EUIC had approximately 1,500 playing in the TCG Masters event (there are also Junior and Senior divisions), whereas this year that number was closer to 2,700. We speculate over whether the spike in interest in the cards in 2021, caused by the imperfect storm of global covid lockdowns and Jake Paul paying $5 million for a Pokémon card, has now led to this growth in interest in playing the game itself. Ross adds, “[So] there’s more people every year that are like, ‘I fancy going to a regional… Oh look, EUIC’s in London this year…”
Merrick points out that there are also many reasons to come along to the event if you’re not competing. “You’ve got the Activity Zone, you’ve got the festival stalls, they’ve even got a challenge on how fast you can beat Red in Pokémon Red and Blue. It’s stuff like that that’s going to bring people in. It’s going to make people realize, you know what, Pokémon is cool!”
“They’ve got a bunch of random consoles where you can go and play all the games, even Pokkén Tournament,” interjects Gilbert. “They’ve got a quiet room for people who are having a bit of a stressful day, to go chill out in. They’re constantly thinking and acting on how they can make this better for every different type of Pokémon fan.”
Photo: Kotaku
Making friends and influencer people
One of the many extra events put on was the Battle Labs, where Pokémon Professors helped people new to either the video game or the card game learn how to play. Standing in line for the TCG lab, I spoke to Aoife, who’d traveled over from the West of Ireland to accompany her partner who was competing. Through Pokémon, her partner had formed a group of 12 friends who would all play together, sometimes booking giant Airbnbs for them and their partners to holiday together. Her partner, Sean, had wanted to try competing at a larger event, so they’d traveled over for the EUIC, leaving Aoife to entertain herself. “I’m here on my own,” she told me, “but I don’t feel nervous at all. Everyone here is just so nice, and the atmosphere is lovely, because everyone’s into the same thing.”
I spoke to Aoife on day two of the event, and she compared—with a laugh—leaving Sean to compete in the Swiss rounds (where players are paired up against others with the same win/loss ratio) with dropping him off at daycare. “I am able to go around and do my own thing, I’ve done lots of activities. This event is amazing.”
That sense of feeling safe was echoed when I spoke to Instagram influencer Poke Girl Rach. We mused on the family-first nature of the place, and how the shared fondness for Pokémon breaks down so many social barriers. “It’s my favorite thing to come to events. You just know you’re surrounded by like-minded people,” she explained. “It’s a really good atmosphere, a super-warm atmosphere.” Rachel Gunn got started on Instagram during the covid lockdowns, describing herself at the time as “a bit lonely.” Driven by a desire to connect with people, she began sharing her lifelong passion for Pokémon, including a sizable plush collection, and grew a community while continuing with her career in finance. Those communities have become such a pivotal part of her life that friends made within them came to her wedding. As we chatted, she was planning for the community meet-ups that were arranged for this event. “I’ve a massive friend group now,” she tells me, before we get distracted talking about the merch we picked up in the pop-up Pokémon Center.
Photo: Kotaku
Pokémon is for everyone
Wandering the floor, I bumped into YouTuber PokeDean. “Crazy,” he said when I asked if he was having a good time. “Every time I come to EUIC it seems to be getting bigger and bigger. The atmosphere today is absolutely incredible.” Not competing this year (“I took part last year and I got humiliated.”), Dean had come along just as a spectator for 2024. Given the YouTuber is about to launch a physical store with his business partner PokiChloe, I wondered how he could possibly have the time. “It’s only because I really love the atmosphere here. I love getting to meet a lot of like-minded people, seeing some amazing players take part.”
Given just how much animosity I see whenever I read Pokémon discourse online, the sheer scale of derision as every new announcement is greeted by fury from long-time fans, I’m so struck by these repeated refrains of how differently this community expresses itself in real life. I wonder if a large part of the online animosity comes from those who have forgotten that Pokémon is…well, it’s primarily for children. On purpose. As in, it’s deliberately, by careful planning and design, for children, and then also accessible to adults.
Serebii’s Joe Merrick agrees. “Pokémon, in times past, people would age out of it. But a lot of people, they’ve grown up, they like it, but they have wanted it to grow up with them. So, if they want this edgy, dark reboot, set in a dystopian Kalos—that’s not gonna happen. Let’s face it: Pokémon is a kids’ game. That’s how they continue getting people in, because you’re not having people age out any more. People just need to understand, it’s for everyone. Not just for them.”
I mention Aoife, taking part in the Pokémon Labs to learn to play the TCG, because she wanted to better understand her partner’s passion. “Something like that is absolutely brilliant,” says YouTuber Ross Gilbert. “You can come here with no interest in competitive TCG, VG, GO, or Unite, and you’ll find stuff to do all weekend.
So where do these two old hats (a term they were less than enamored with) see the tournaments heading? “Bigger,” they both say at the same time. Between them they begin speculating whether the event will eventually take over both halves of the enormous ExCel arena, or if it will entirely outgrow the building, perhaps have to look at spaces the size of London’s O2 arena.
Even this black heart…
Over the weekend, I spoke to families where at least one member was being dragged along by others, but seemed to be having a great time despite it. I spoke to female competitors who were there on their own, but didn’t feel intimidated or concerned at all. I saw extraordinary diversity—by age, race, gender identity. I saw huge groups of friends gathering in corridors to celebrate victories, impromptu card trading groups breaking out in dining areas, and kids freaking out to see Pikachu come dancing by.
Sick as a dog, there on my own without anyone else I already knew, and a life-long misanthrope, the event weaved its magic on me too. I spent ages chatting with delightful strangers, added new friends on socials, and almost missed my three-hour coach ride home because of how comfortable I felt in this crowd of ten-thousand people. It’s always a pleasure to remember that online misery rarely translates to the real world, but even better when that real world is so utterly delightful.
Internet personality turned prizefighter Jake Paul, 27, will box former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, 57, in a match that will be streamed on Netflix in July. What do you think?
“What does the dignified world of boxing have to gain from featuring some attention-seeking interloper?”
Korben Deraney, Well Surveyor
This Week’s Most Viral News: March 8, 2024
“I don’t need another reason to cancel my Netflix subscription.”
