Jake Paul and his Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) finally came up with an official statement. It repudiated the claims and rumors questioning the legitimacy of his fight against Mike Tyson. The YouTuber-turned-boxer faced the 58-year-old former world champion at the AT&T Stadium two weeks ago. Paul won the eight-round special-rules bout unanimously. But the showdown couldn’t escape scathing criticisms, with many doubting the fairness of the match watched by millions across the world.

Online forums were inundated with claims of the Paul-Tyson match being ‘scripted’. The theory seems to have been quashed. But doubts about whether both the contestants participated wholeheartedly continued. Another hypothesis suggested that perhaps Paul held back against Tyson. During a discussion, veteran journalist and ESPN’s boxing insider, Mike Coppinger, pressed that might be the case. However, former two-division world champion Timothy ‘Tim’ Bradley disagreed.

Jake Paul pulled his punches with Mike Tyson

Mike Coppinger shared footage of the conversation that took place at ‘State of Boxing’ on ESPN+. Right at the outset, Coppinger made it clear—he doesn’t resent Jake Paul at all. The Ohioan gave viewers and followers what they wanted to see. The fight with Mike Tyson was earmarked for casual followers of the sport.

“Jake Paul clearly carried Mike Tyson,” said Mike Coppinger. But a few talks and social media posts astounded him. Random users suggested that Mike Tyson must have gone ‘easy’ on Jake Paul. Or, that the fight was ‘rigged’.

“No, it was Jake Paul actually going easy on Mike Tyson,” stated Coppinger, highlighting how Mike Tyson was way past his prime. ‘Iron’ Mike’ was a mere shadow of his former self. Coppinger further elaborated how if he wanted to, Jake Paul could have knocked out Tyson in the opening round itself.

While the ESPN boxing insider lauded Jake Paul for his matchless promotional skills, he couldn’t, however, prevent himself from expressing his disappointment with the show. “It was not boxing at all; it was a kind of a sad event…. I don’t want to see any more of these events,” he said.

But ‘Tim’ Bradley felt otherwise. “Cop, you’re telling me that Jake Paul let off the gas?” he asked Mike Coppinger while making his disagreement evident. That sounded way too incredulous. Bradley highlighted that that’s how ‘The Problem Child’ usually fought. “He sucks as a fighter. He was afraid,” he insisted.

It’s something ‘The Problem Child’ is not capable of

Making his case, ‘The Desert Storm’ argued that the turnaround came when Jake Paul felt the power of Mike Tyson’s punch. He changed his mind and decided not to engage the former heavyweight champion in close quarters. Tyson often tried to close the gap between them, but Paul would wriggle himself out and scuttle around the ring.

Coppinger countered when ‘Tim’ Bradley stated, “He (Jake Paul) didn’t want any part of an exchange with Mike Tyson.” The former welterweight champion continued that Paul perhaps wanted to avoid getting knocked out. The remark forced Coppinger to suggest that it was a delusional notion. Bradley immediately came back. Followers would often reach out to him asking whether the November 15 bout was ‘rigged’. He would deny it vehemently. Why?

“That’s Jake Paul at his absolute best,” he said, adding, “(Jake Paul) got caught,” when Mike Coppinger retorted that Paul went to cut some slack for Tyson. Timothy Bradley hurled back that that wasn’t the case. Coppinger sought an explanation because it would have looked bad on Paul had he knocked out a 58-year-old former champion.

Bradley disagreed. “(Knocking out Mike Tyson) would have helped Jake because he would have been the biggest villain in boxing, in sporting history; he knocked out the legend.” Mike Coppinger maintained that what Paul did was to show compassion towards Mike Tyson. “Absolutely not,” replied Tom Bradley.

After the fight, Jake Paul revealed that he didn’t want to knock out Mike Tyson. “I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt,” he said.

Where does your take fall? Do you agree with Mike Coppinger or Tim Bradley?