Different people have different opinions about the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight last Friday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Hollywood star and the face of the popular boxing movie series ‘Rocky,’ Sylvester Stallone, has his own. ‘The Italian Stallion’ feels the former heavyweight champion lost the fight on purpose to the YouTube boxer in front of a packed Arlington crowd.

You see, conspiracy theories are being concocted about the fight, suggesting Tyson didn’t give it his all, letting Paul win the bout. From what it looked like though, Tyson came out aggressive in the first few rounds and quickly gassed out in the later rounds. It made sense, Tyson is 58 years old after all. Despite that, many are arguing Tyson threw away his legacy in a staged bout. 

Regardless, to get his point across, Stallone took to Instagram the other day, sharing pictures of himself with the youngest heavyweight champion. “Business is business. SOMETIMES you have to do hard things and sacrifice for the sake of helping your FAMILY….,” Stallone wrote reacting to Tyson’s loss.

Claiming to have known Tyson since the latter was 19, Stallone claimed Tyson gave an Oscar-worthy performance that night. “What we saw was him giving one of the [greatest] Oscar-winning performances of all time,” he added. “Jake, be grateful, HE SPARED YOUR LIFE! Trust me.” You would think, this would be enough to get his point to the masses, but guess again. 

Naturally, the post quickly sparked a mix of reactions, with some siding with Stallone and others voicing disagreement. For those who disagreed, the veteran actor had a ready response. In one response, Stallone wrote back, “Please believe me when I tell you, he would’ve beat him to death. To death.”

Responding to another, who warned Stallone not to encourage Tyson into fighting again, Stallone said, “I know the man for 41 years. He literally would’ve decapitated [the] chick. It was a performance.” Another user enquired whether Stallone felt Tyson’s age had anything to do with his loss, to which the actor claimed Tyson was paid to avoid killing Paul.

“He didn’t care about hurting him. He was paid not to kill him. That’s why he was biting his gloves out of frustration,” Stallone wrote back. That said, what Stallone is basically saying is Tyson came out of retirement to fight for money. But here’s the twist!

Mike Tyson on ‘why fight’ Jake Paul

Hours before the fight, Tyson sat down for a chat with The New York Post, where he revealed the real reason he took that fight. “Money doesn’t mean nothing,” Tyson said about the fight, which even then was being looked at as a huge cash grab. “Money from this is not going to change my life. I’m living a great life.”

It’s worth mentioning that Tyson reportedly got paid $20 million for the fight. In the meantime, he has a multi-million dollar company, which sells c***abis and is considered one of the biggest players in the market. Tyson pointed out the same, stating, “My c***abis company is the biggest in the world. Money has nothing to do with this.”

So, the question is, what could be Tyson’s reason? “If anything, it’s about ego,” Tyson said. This practically dismantles Stallone’s statement, “SOMETIMES you have to do hard things and sacrifice for the sake of helping your FAMILY…” Also, as to why Tyson was biting his gloves, he has revealed that he has a biting fixation during the in-ring interview after the Paul fight.

It appears Sylvester Stallone is having a difficult time letting go of the past. There’s no denying, a prime Mike Tyson would have run through Jake Paul in seconds of the 1st round. But Tyson doesn’t have that kind of stamina left in him anymore. Regardless, do you agree? Or do you also think it really was a scripted fight?