When all is said and done, will Jake Paul be a net positive for boxing?

When he finally decides to move on from boxing, Jake Paul will leave the sport as one of its richest fighters and one of its most recognizable names.

Whether that turns out to be good for boxing in the long haul remains up for debate.

The 27-year-old former Disney child star, who built a reputation and earned his fortune by making YouTube videos, is already one of the sport's most recognizable names even though he hasn't fought one boxer who is worth a damn.

Paul is the guy who has repeatedly called out undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez and wound up fighting dregs like Andre August and Ryan Bourland instead. After needing 2:32 and 2:37, respectively, to get rid of August and Bourland, who had good records and not much else, Paul's next fight is against someone a bit more accomplished.

You may have heard of him. Last name's Tyson. In 1986, he became the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history. In 1988, he knocked out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds to become undisputed heavyweight champion. And in 2011, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Mike Tyson is one of the greatest punchers and biggest attractions in boxing history.

And, of course, he's 57 years old, and will be 58 on July 20, when he's supposed to fight Paul at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, in a bout that will be streamed on Netflix.

The fight will generate a ton of money. There's little doubt of that. It will be viewed by a massive audience worldwide. 

It's also a farce.

Men who are nearly 60 years old have no business fighting. It's making a mockery of the sport. Now, if you just thought to yourself that boxing has done a great job of making a mockery of itself for years upon years, you wouldn't be wrong. It's one of the most mismanaged sports ever, if not the most.

Paul, though, is one of those who has the talent and the ability to change the sport's trajectory. He is a marketing genius and has the ability to do for boxing what Dana White did for mixed martial arts. MMA was in worse shape than boxing in 2001 when White and partners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta purchased the UFC for $2 million from Semaphore Entertainment Group.

In the first three years of their ownership, the UFC was $40 million in the hole and the Fertittas were looking to sell it off. But they eventually turned it around and now it's one of the hottest sports properties in the world, with a valuation of over $12 billion.

Paul has an innate understanding of what the fan base wants. Each of his 10 professional fights has been bigger, and they've gotten progressively bigger even though he's yet to face a boxer who was considered a legitimate talent. His one loss in his career came to Tommy Fury, who is best known as WBC/lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury's half brother. Tommy Fury is primarily a reality star who is mediocre, at best, as a boxer.

After fighting a series of MMA fighters, Paul made the announcement that he'd start facing boxers. And that led to matches against August and Bourland. Both had impressive records, but the problem was, neither had any talent.

And while boxers in their early careers generally don't face dangerous opposition, it's getting a bit ridiculous with Paul.

He says he wants to be a world champion but how does fighting a nearly 60-year-old man who hasn't at all since Feb. 22, 2002, who hasn't beaten a Top 10 contender since 1996 and who hasn't won a title fight since before Paul was born advance that cause?

The easy answer is, it doesn't, and the fight is little more than a disgrace.

Paul has done plenty of good in his brief time in boxing. His advocacy for women's boxing has truly been helpful and without his push, it's unlike Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor would have ever met at Madison Square Garden in what is the Ali-Frazier I of women's boxing.

He's shown how to draw attention to boxing in a world in which boxing is back of mind for the vast majority. Ask a middle-aged man, in particular, if he still watches boxing and more than likely the answer you'll get will be some version of "I used to," with a vague description of why he doesn't any more.

Boxing needs a smart marketer like Paul to help lift it up and reclaim some of its old glory. Even though many of them are going to Saudi Arabia now, where they're largely inaccessible to the U.S. audience, a lot of big fights are being made now that just a handful of years ago weren't.

We had to wait nearly six years for Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao to fight each other, so count me as among the grateful that we're seeing huge fights like Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight title and Artur Beterbiev versus Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed light heavyweight title happening in the next 90 days, even if both are in Saudi Arabia.

Paul's notoriety gives him a bully pulpit and the ability to affect positive change into a sport that desperately needs it.

If he keeps choosing to fight 58-year-old men, no-hopers, NBA players and MMA fighters, he'll make a lot of money but will wind up doing little for the sport that has already done much for him.

But if he uses his talents to enhance the betterment of boxing, he could turn out to be one of the most significant figures in the sport's history.

First, though, he's really got to re-think his strategy on choosing opponents. 

Because fighting a 58-year-old only invites tragedy and does little good other than make money for those involved.