We always knew there would be controversy surrounding the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight, but in the aftermath of the former's victory, there are claims that the whole thing was 'rigged.' Even before Jake "The Problem Child" Paul and Mike "Iron Mike" Tyson stepped into the ring, there were complaints that the fight wasn't as fair as it could be. Controversial rule changes involved heavier gloves and shorter rounds, although it was unclear who these would be benefitting.
The 27-year-old YouTuber lasted all eight rounds with the former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, and while both survived without being knocked out, the 58-year-old Tyson was particularly showing signs of fatigue by the end. Paul won based on points, and alongside those who've branded the whole fight as 'boring', others are going one step further to claim it was fixed in Paul's favor.
A leaked 'script' for the fight suggested Paul would win, but with Tyson supposedly being knocked out in Round 5, it looks like it was an elaborate hoax. As for the real claims that things were fixed, fans think they've pinpointed the exact moment they can prove it was rigged for Paul.
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During one (not) knockout moment, Tyson is seen punching Paul with the full force that echoes his glory days before his retirement in 2005. Considering 44 of Tyson's 50 wins have resulted in a KO, he's not a guy to be messed with.
When someone posted the punch on X with the caption, "Mike still got it in him," others quickly took to the comments.
One mused: "He could of slammed Jake. Even in training you can see the power. He just held back because the contract had to have Jake winning."
Another defiantly said: "Rigged - I won't watch another match with Jake Paul nor his production company."
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Jumping on the conspiracy theory bandwagon, someone else concluded: "Man, how much Mike make to sign the NDA?"
Others weren't convinced and simply said that Tyson's peak is behind him. With Paul being some 31 years Tyson's junior, it's become an online joke. As well as some suggesting Paul should fight Joe Biden next, others have been saying he wouldn't have stood a chance against Tyson back in his prime.
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On the flip side of accusations about Tyson reining it in, Paul controversially said he went 'easy' on Tyson in a post-match interview. He went on to say: "I was trying to hurt him a little bit. I was scared he was going to hurt me, I was trying to hurt him..."
When asked if Paul eased off in later rounds, he added: "Yeah, definitely, definitely a bit. I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want [to hurt him]."
With Paul tipped to have made a cool $40 million from the fight and Tyson netting $20 million, both are going home with substantially fatter wallets. Even though Tyson has maintained it's about the glory instead of the money, a growing number are claiming that he was paid a substantial sum just to lose.
Even if this was the case, it's unlikely that we'd ever really find out, so we'll have to leave the conspiracy theorists to it. Still, if Tyson wants to try and prove himself in a rematch, we're sure another 60 million households would tune in out of morbid curiosity.