Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson was one of the year’s biggest sporting events, but the outcome left much to be desired. The headliner’s labored efforts had many calling the fight boring at best and suspicious at worst. Paul and Nakisa Bidarian, Paul’s manager and co-founder of Most Valuable Promotions, pushed back against any fight-fixing claims on Wednesday.
On Nov. 15, Paul vs. Tyson competed in a professional boxing bout with modified rules. Paul’s inability to finish a fatigued 58-year-old Tyson had people questioning the fight’s authenticity. The most prevalent instance detractors point to is when Paul opted against pursuing a knockdown after wobbling Tyson in Round 3.
“People are like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s rigged because look at him on the pads but he didn’t do this in the fight,’ because someone is f—ing punching back you dumb f—s,” Paul said on his brother Logan Paul’s “Impaulsive” podcast on Wednesday. “People don’t realize my power, and my jab and my speed and my ability, and my footwork to get out of the way of those punches, so then all of a sudden he’s throwing at, literally, air.”
Paul added fuel to the fire of the fight-fixing allegations during his post-fight interview. Paul told reporters he “didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt,” agreeing that he “definitely” took his foot off the gas to “give the fans a show.” On Wednesday, Paul claimed it was Tyson’s elusiveness that saved him.
“He was hard to hit,” Paul said. “He was elusive. I was missing a lot of punches. I don’t know how he gets off to the side like that… I wish he had put up a better fight so that I could’ve risen more and done more, and he was surviving.”
Sports broadcasters, alleged internet sleuths and fans have questioned the fight’s legitimacy. Bidarian specifically addressed Super Bowl champion Michael Irvin’s claims that a “no uppercut” clause was written into the Paul vs. Tyson contract.
“The only thing that bothers me is the continued kind of narrative and people saying the fight was rigged,” Bidarian told “The Ariel Helwani Show.”
“How would you have seen the contract to begin with that MIke Tyson couldn’t throw an uppercut?” Bidarian asked. “It’s beyond lunacy.”
Bidarian reassured the fight was legitimate, citing its regulated status as a professional bout and the high-stakes partnership with Netflix. Bidarian dismissed social media posts claiming the fight was fixed as deceptive efforts to generate viewership.
“This was a regulated professional bout by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. And we were partners with Netflix, the biggest media company in the world, who’s a public company,” Bidarian said. “For anyone to suggest that this was in any way a rigged fight, they’re either dumb or they’re looking for attention.”
“I get it. Putting up posts [claiming] ‘proof it was rigged’ gets you good engagement. A lot of people comment, like and share. We’re in an attention economy. People say outlandish things to bring awareness to themselves. It’s a sad state of society that people want to spend their time like that.”
Netflix and Most Valuable Promotions — a company founded by Paul and Bidarian — partnered to host Paul vs. Tyson at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. On April 29, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations approved the fighters’ request to sanction the fight professionally despite concerns about the 31-year age gap between athletes. The commission approved the sanctioning, but included a modified rulset of 14-ounce gloves (4 ounces bigger than a standard heavyweight bout) as well as the fight being eight, two-minute rounds.
Tyson revealed post-fight that he “almost died” in June after an ulcer flare-up delayed the original date for the fight in July.
