The highly watched fight between the boxing legend Mike Tyson and the social media star-turned-boxer Jake Paul had the entire sports world a buzz-but something did not quite add up. As the match played out, it became hard to shake off the suspicion that the fight was rigged from the very beginning. Meanwhile, the competitive Tyson throughout his career seemed at times to pull his punches in ways unbecoming a-legend of the sport, while Jake Paul-still a bit of a newcomer in the ring was allowed some moments that felt far too scripted. Was this a real fight or faked event for the cameras? This fight, in my opinion, was nothing but a corrupt and a scripted way to make money.
Mike Tyson is a well-known boxing icon for having an aggressive style of fighting, with 50 wins, 44 by knockout, and just 7 losses in his professional career. Tyson always idolized Muhammad Ali and devoted years to training with a dream of being one of the best fighters ever. A year older at 58, Tyson had been preparing months in the hope that he might once again jump into the prime time of competitive boxing. When the fight came, the performance of Tyson was simply weird. He started off very powerfully in the first couple rounds, landing solid punches and looking sharp, but his intensity thereafter weakened. Tyson’s caution was out of place, especially being a fighter of his experience and killer instinct. One even had the feeling that he was deliberately pulling his punches or holding back. The fight was staged.
Opponents of the theory cite that Tyson was just too old to be as dynamic in the ring as he once was. To be fair, age does play a factor with any athlete. Tyson’s training showed that he was physically ready. The fact is still, his in-ring behavior was not consistent with that preparation and that brings it into question.
On the other hand, Jake Paul rookie figure in combat sports- is an inexperienced boxer. A YouTube personality who only turned professional boxer after his brother, Logan Paul, cruised into the WWE. Jake Paul is still feeling his way around the ring despite several flashy knockouts against ill prepared opponents. His inexperience infighting is poor, yet he got lots of time to “shine,” landing punches, mostly circling around the ring to avoid real danger. Following Tyson’s clear restraint, Jake Paul won most of the rounds not because of dominant fighting but because he could survive and land a few strikes while avoiding Tyson’s bigger punches.
But here’s where things start to get suspicious. There was a rumor floating around that the more rounds Tyson lasted, the more money he would receive. That is weird, one would say. If Tyson had knocked Jake Paul out in the first round, that would have lessened the entertainment value. This will then create a convincing argument that the fight might not be about the competition itself but was to create something out of a specifically money-making scheme.
If it were a real fight, Tyson would most definitely have knocked Jake Paul out early in the rounds. Considering Tyson’s strength and experience, he can end the fight quickly. Instead, the fight went to a decision, with Tyson backing off at key moments and allowing Paul to continue landing small shots that did not do much damage. That suggests there was more going on here than the event itself.
In the end, the fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul made some serious questions. The below par fight by Tyson and inexperience displayed by Paul pointed to a fight that was less about skill and more about the creation of a spectacle. Financial incentives about match duration only heighten such suspicion of the fight being rigged to maximize revenue. The suspension of both fighters for 24 days deepens these concerns, pointing to behind-the-scenes manipulation. It allowed less like a real competition inboxing and a distortion of the sport in itself.
