The fall out from Mike Tyson‘s ring return against Jake Paul continues.
The controversial eight rounder saw 58-year-old Tyson take on 27-year-old Paul. Anyone in the sport who predicted ‘Iron’ Mike would have enough to get rid of the less experienced Paul was proven wrong quickly, the heavyweight veteran looking a shadow of his former self.
It led to claims that the fight – sanctioned by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations – was in some way ‘scripted’ or ‘rigged’, prompting the promotion, Paul’s MVP, to release a statement strongly denying this and calling such comments ‘naive.’
That hasn’t stopped three-weight world champion and Hall of Famer James Toney doubling down. Speaking to the Wise Nuts podcast, Toney said ‘they had some kind of deal’ that involved Tyson holding back.
“F**k Jake Paul. He sucks. He’s garbage. He’s destroying the sport of boxing, period. He won’t f**k with me cause everybody know I ain’t playing. I take my craft serious, I love boxing. Boxing’s my world.”
“I love Mike but Mike knows better than that s**t. Mike disrespected the sport. Jake Paul has disrespected the sport by doing what they did. What kind of s**t is that? … [Mike Tyson’s] getting paid extra money and Jake Paul has the little celebrity thing … They had some kind of deal, some s**t like that … [I realised] as soon as he came to the ring.”
Asked what he would do if he was offered the fight, the man who stopped Evander Holyfield in 2003 said he would only take a ‘straight up’ fight.
“Minus the bulls**t – I can’t knock him out and all that – we can fight a real fight. I’ll knock him out. I’m not f**king my legacy up for money. I worked hard for that, my legacy, to be where it is. If we fight straight up with no bulls**t on the side, your ass is mine.”
Paul moves ahead as an 11-1 fighter, though is much more likely to focus on a different demographic next rather than fight another 50-something veteran.
