Jake Paul and Mike Tyson are now embroiled in fresh controversy as allegations surface that their fight may have been ‘rigged’. The claims come from an undercard fighter, hinting that the result of the match was prearranged.

YouTube celebrity turned fighter, Paul, sailed to an easy win against a much older Tyson without pushing for a knockout. Despite dominating, the fight ended with scorecards showing 80-72, 79-73, 79-73 favoring Jake Paul.

In the waning moments of the bout, he even respectfully bowed to Iron Mike, despite having the apparent upper hand. Sara Bailey, the reigning women’s WBA world light flyweight champion who supported undercard fighter Lucas Bahdi, stirred speculation post-fight by labeling the headline event a sham when queried by ES NEWS.

“Yeah, it was fixed, I’m sorry.” Bailey opined, and Bahdi echoed a similar sentiment, remarking, “I think he [Paul] took it easy.”

The bout’s aftermath has left many fans and critics buzzing with charged reactions. The audience, seemingly unimpressed, began to exit before the final announcement, with audible boos accompanying the decision.

Addressing whether he scaled back during the fight, Paul conceded in the post-fight media session, stating, “Yeah, definitely a bit. I wanted to give the fans a show but I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt.

“There was a point where he (Tyson) was not engaging back, I could just tell his age was showing a little bit. That violence war thing… that went away as the rounds went on.

“People just love to hate me. I intentionally say things for people to hate. That’s what I like to do. If people want to see more… give me a couple of months. I tried to give the best fight I possibly could.

“When someone’s just surviving in the ring, it’s hard to make it exciting. I don’t care what people have to say. It is what it is.”

Jake Paul - Mike Tyson

The Paul-Tyson fight was marred by streaming issues on Netflix ( 

Image:

Getty Images for Netflix © 2024)

However, not everyone was let down by Paul’s decision not to inflict too much punishment. Retired boxing champion Andre Ward was asked if he thought Paul was going easy on Tyson.

Ward told KO Artist Sports: “I don’t want to say that… it kind of seemed like that at times. And to be honest with you, I appreciate that. I wasn’t going to be feeling that. What’s the worst that’s going to happen, you get a few boos? But you still honor and pay homage to an all-time great.”

Paul also revealed another reason for his performance, however. He said: “Two weeks ago I sprained my ankle, completely tore the ligament, anterior ligament and like snapped the other side of my foot.

“I was on crutches for four or five days and it just hindered the end of my training camp. I don’t know how it didn’t get leaked or anything. I missed about two weeks of sparring and that’s why my cardio didn’t really feel so good tonight.”