Jake Paul, love him or hate him, will do his small part to bring a divided nation together on Friday.

Not between red vs. blue, but between the diehard boxing fans and the casuals.

Paul, an internet influencer and aspiring boxer, will fight Mike Tyson on Netflix and break all viewing records in doing so. I have avoided watching the spectacle of this celebrity boxing as much as I could so far. They could trade windmills behind me as I type this and I probably wouldn’t turn around to give it even a cursory glance.

I love the skill of the sport, two combatants putting their lives on the line in the sweet science. Ryan Garcia’s fast hands and Naoya Inoue’s quick feet. Oleksandr Usyk’s discipline against Tyson Fury’s adaptability. Bud Crawford when he turns mean. Bam Rodriguez against the latest legend.

Tyson is 58 years old and doesn’t have those skills any more. Paul never had those skills and probably never will. They will fight eight 2-minute rounds and wear 14 ounce gloves, usually rounds are three minutes and gloves are 10 ounces. I’d say that those adjustments are what earned the stamp of approval from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, but the money that this fracas is going to generate would probably pass muster with any commission. Hawaii’s Bobby Lee, who famously denied Muhammad Ali a license when the Greatest Of All Time was 38 years old, is gone and took the standards with him.

Paul and his Most Valuable Promotions know that they will probably never win over diehards like myself, but they have my attention because of two little ladies who are certain to steal the show.

While Paul and Tyson are entertaining fellow celebrities and getting ready for their ring walks for what can only resemble Manute Bol vs. Fridge Perry, Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano will be duking it out in their much-anticipated rematch.

Ireland’s Taylor and Puerto Rico’s Serrano headlined an event at Madison Square Garden in 2022, the first women to do so, and put on a show that was named the “Event of the Year” by Ring Magazine and “Fight of the Year” by Sports Illustrated with Taylor winning by a controversial split decision. Tyson brings all of the pedigree on Friday, but together Taylor and Serrano might be the only ones to match him.

Taylor was unbeaten back then, an Olympic gold medalist and the first female professional fighter from her country. Serrano, dubbed “The Real Deal,” had won world titles in seven different weight classes, only Manny Pacquiao can beat that.

Taylor is 38 years old now and has a loss on her record, while Serrano has been around the sun 36 times. Even if they have lost a step or two, when Serrano eventually knocks Taylor’s ponytail out of its scrunchie it is guaranteed to be a great show. Taylor can make anyone miss and make them pay, but Serrano rarely misses. Taylor has walked through shots delivered by the most powerful women to ever lace the gloves and Serrano has put 31 opponents to sleep.

With apologies to Hall of Famers Ann Wolfe — who won her first world title in Honolulu — and Christy Martin, the women’s game back then largely resembled what misfits boxing is right now. They had a tremendous amount of courage but the skills weren’t there yet, they served mostly as a curiosity before people settled into their seats for the real boxers. Dedicated talents like Taylor, Serrano, Claressa Shields and Cecilia Braekhus changed that.

Friday’s undercard also includes Mario Barrios, Bruce Carrington and Shadasia Green, a show that stands tall even without the Tyson-Paul curiosity. I will certainly be watching all of them, in addition to the Riyadh Season card headlined by Gilberto Ramirez and Chris Billam-Smith for a cruiserweight crown.

But I am a proud diehard, I watch pretty much all of them. On Friday that will be tested when Taylor or Serrano get their hands raised and I am tempted to turn the television off before the Paul-Tyson circus begins.

I know it would only be right to take the high road and save myself from the ugly spectacle, but character is what you do when nobody is watching and like a woman at the ballot box I also know that nobody will know if I actually watched it or not. Bring it on.

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Reach Jerry Campany at jcampany@staradvertiser.com.