Boxer and YouTube personality Jake Paul is striking back at rumors that his fight with heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was somehow rigged and is calling the claims “illogical and inane.”
Paul, 28, faced Tyson, 58, in the ring last week and won the bout with the elder boxer in a unanimous decision with a score of 80-72, 79-73, 79-73 for Paul. The loss drops Tyson to 50-7, while Paul advances his record to 11-1.
But after the match, rumors began circulating on social media that Tyson had thrown the fight, and it was all rigged.
In response to the rumor mill, Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions released a full statement slamming the claims and insisting that the whole event was presented in “good faith,” Fox News reports.
“Rigging a professional boxing match is a federal crime in the United States of America,” Paul’s company wrote in its statement on Monday. “Paul vs. Tyson was a professional match sanctioned by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations (TDLR). Both fighters, in good faith, performed to the best of their abilities with the goal of winning the fight.
“There were absolutely no restrictions – contractual or otherwise – around either fighter. Each boxer was able to use his full arsenal to win the fight. Any agreement to the contrary would violate TDLR boxing rules.”
The statement then addressed the claims head-on.
“It is further illogical and inane that MVP, in the debut of a hopeful long-term partnership with the world’s biggest streamer – an organization that made its first-ever foray into live professional sports with Paul vs. Tyson – would even so much as consider such a perverse violation of the rules of competition.”
The Co-founder of Paul’s MVP, Nakisa Bidarian, also ripped the rumors.
“This was 100% real from beginning to end. It was so real that the guy had an ulcer, and we took a five-month break to give him time to heal the ulcer to be able to perform at his best level,” he said.
Noting that people will make up nonsense no matter what, he added, “The only win there was if Mike Tyson knocked out Jake Paul. Otherwise, the haters would have found a way to complain no matter what.”
Regardless, the two fighters earned a hefty haul. Tyson earned $20 million, and Paul earned $40 million that night.
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