Jake Paul’s Most Invaluable Promotions stated in an announcement Monday that current hypothesis that Paul’s Nov. 15 record-breaking match in opposition to Mike Tyson was rigged or scripted is “incorrect and baseless.”
The corporate, which partnered with Netflix for what was the most-streamed world sporting occasion in historical past, insisted they complied with all applicable laws for a match that was sanctioned by the Texas Division of Licensing and Laws (TDLR).
“Each fighters in good religion carried out to one of the best of their talents with the purpose of successful the combat,” MVP’s assertion stated. “There have been completely no restrictions — contractual or in any other case — round both fighter. Every boxer was in a position to make use of his full arsenal to win the combat. Any settlement on the contrary would violate TDLR boxing guidelines.”
Paul (11-1, 7 KOs) earned a unanimous resolution in opposition to former heavyweight champion Tyson (50-7, 44 KOs). The judges scored it 80-72, 79-73, 79-73, with the previous YouTube star successful the placing battle 78-18 throughout eight two-minute rounds.
The occasion attracted a record-breaking gate at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Nov. 15 with 72,300 followers in attendance resulting in $18,117,072 in complete income, a report for boxing and blended martial occasions held outdoors of Las Vegas. Netflix noticed the combat peak at a report 65 million concurrent streams.
Nevertheless, response to the combat got here with questions on its authenticity from huge names within the sport, together with Corridor of Famer Oscar de la Hoya, who posted on social media, “All people is speaking about how staged this combat was. I do imagine it was scripted and I imagine that Tyson was actually held again.
“Look, I am a fighter and I can see it. It goes on their report and it was sanctioned. Jake Paul paid to get the W on his report! For what? To your personal private satisfaction? I preserve telling you, if you wish to be an actual fighter such as you say you need to be, what are you doing? Who’s subsequent? Joe Biden? It’s a must to combat actual fighters.”
Paul himself fueled a few of the rumors when requested within the post-match press convention whether or not he took his foot off the gasoline in spherical three. “Yeah, undoubtedly. Positively a bit,” he instructed reporters. “I wished to offer the followers a present, however I did not need to damage somebody that did not have to be damage.”
MVP stated it was “illogical and inane” to counsel the corporate would threat a brand new and doubtlessly profitable partnership with Netflix by breaking the principles.
“Trash discuss and hypothesis are widespread in sports activities, and athletes and promoters must tolerate nonsensical commentary, jokes and opinions. However suggesting something apart from full effort from these fighters isn’t solely naive however an insult to the work they put into their craft and to the game itself.”
MVP’s co-founder, Nakisa Bidarian, defended Paul, a YouTube millionaire-turned-pro athlete.
“From day one on this sport, folks have doubted his talents — unable to reconcile how somebody along with his background has completed a lot in such a short while,” Bidarian stated Monday. “Jake has not solely confirmed himself repeatedly, however he has repeatedly set historic data that talk for themselves. … So long as Jake continues to exceed expectations, there’ll all the time be those that attempt to discredit his achievements. We embrace the doubt — it solely fuels Jake to work tougher and obtain larger success.”
–Subject Degree Media
