Boxing fans were left convinced Jake Paul’s eagerly anticipated bout against Mike Tyson was ‘scripted’ after the the YouTuber’s shock post fight admission.
The eight-round bout, which took place at the AT&T Stadium in Texas and was streamed on Netflix, was scored 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73 in favour of Paul.
Tyson looked every day of his 58 years as he was being schooled by his younger opponent and appeared to have been hurt on several occasions as he bit down on his own gloves.
Paul visibly eased off in the closing rounds of the fight and avoided the temptation to land the knockout blow that an increasingly disenchanted and baying crowd feared was on the cards.
To his credit, Tyson navigated his way to the finish line and maintained his dignity, but fans were left unimpressed with Paul confirming that he didn’t want to damage his illustrious opponent unnecessarily.
‘Yeah, definitely a bit,’ he said when asked if he deliberately took his foot off the gas during the closing rounds of the fight.
‘I wanted to give the fans a show but I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt.’
He added: ‘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.
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.’
Reacting to Paul’s apparent show of sportsmanship, one fan on X wrote: ‘Some will say it was all scripted.’
Another wrote: ‘The match was clearly scripted. Jake bowing down in front of Mike during the fight exposed the setup. Mike was clearly holding back during the entire fight This was a staged performance.’
‘Netflix really fumbled their live sports debut by scamming us with a scripted Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight and cashing in millions?’ added another fight fan.
‘Exploiting a 58-year-old legend just to hype your platform is disrespectful. Tyson deserves better.’
MORE : Conor McGregor blasted for ‘disgusting’ Prichard Colon tweet after Tyson vs Paul fight
MORE : Terence Crawford tells Mike Tyson he ‘looked like trash’ after Jake Paul loss
MORE : How much did Mike Tyson make fighting Jake Paul on Netflix?
