Boxing icon Mike Tyson threw down the gauntlet to Jake Paul by demanding their bout be a fully fledged professional showdown.

The heavyweight champ is set to duke it out with the YouTube star turned boxer at AT&T stadium on July 20, by which point Tyson will be 58 years old. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations has given the green light for their clash to go down as an official pro fight, reported The Mirror.

That's the case even though it's scheduled for eight rounds of two minutes each, with both fighters donning 14-ounce gloves and ditching the headgear. This decision has sparked some outcry among fans who reckon the shorter rounds should keep it in the exhibition zone, but Paul came out swinging on his BS podcast, saying it was Tyson who wanted to up the ante.

"I just want to make it clear, Mike Tyson is the one who wanted it to be a pro fight," he declared. "I said to Nakisa [Paul's business partner and manager], if that is what Mike wants, then that's fine, but make sure if you tell Mike that there is no holding back. Whatever happens, happens and this is war now.

"If he puts me down, I can deal with that, but if I put him down, he needs to be the one making the decision on whether or not he can deal with that. Now that it's a pro fight and it's on my record and I'm going to put him down, and if people are p***ed about it, then watch soccer. Go watch some volleyball, don't watch boxing."

Tyson, who hasn't tasted victory in a pro ring since he threw in the towel against Kevin McBride nearly 20 years ago, is set to face off with Paul, who knocked out lesser-known Ryan Bourland in March. Paul confessed the bout being officially sanctioned has cranked up the pressure.

"It makes it real, it makes it war," he said. "He's a killer too and the fact that he wanted it. . .I think he wants to end my a** and put me in the dirt.

"To make a statement to all of boxing that he is and was, all of things and is still the baddest man on the planet. That he can still get in there at this age and put down the young buck."