Jake Paul caused controversy when he defeated 58-year-old legend Mike Tyson without throwing a decisive blow, claiming he wanted to respect his opponent. The match left many questions about transparency in boxing.

Jake Paul beats Tyson but doesn’t throw the deciding punch

Jake Paul, 27 years old, won against boxing legend Mike Tyson in a match at AT&T Stadium, Texas (USA) on November 15. However, the match immediately caused controversy when Paul admitted that he did not fight at full strength and did not actively try to knock out his 58-year-old opponent.

“I definitely didn’t play my best,” Paul said in his post-match press conference. “I wanted to put on a good show for the fans, but I didn’t want to hurt someone who didn’t deserve to be hurt.”

Jake’s brother, Logan Paul, agreed. “Jake let Tyson continue to fight. Tyson was strong, he weathered the storm against the young boxer Jake,” Logan told Sportsmail.

In the fight, Tyson started strong but could not maintain his form against his opponent who was 31 years younger. Statistics showed that Tyson only threw 97 punches, with an accuracy rate of 19% (18 successful punches), compared to 278 punches and a rate of 28% (78 punches on target) from Paul. The judges scored the fight 80-72, 79-73, 79-73 in favor of Paul after 8 rounds.

Controversy over the results

Many in the industry believe the fight was fixed to spare Tyson from heavy beatings. WBA women’s champion Sara Bailey, who was in attendance, told ES News: “Yes, I think it was fixed. Sorry, but it’s true.”

Lucas Bahdi, the Canadian boxer competing in the co-main event, also commented: “I think Paul went easy on him.”

Paul’s decision not to knock out Tyson was supported by Netflix legend Andre Ward. Ward told KO Artist Sports: “I appreciate that. It’s important to honor and pay respect to a legend.”

Paul and his post-match comments

Paul revealed he sprained his ankle in training ahead of the match. “I had to put it in a cast and missed two weeks of training, which had a big impact on my performance,” he said.

When asked about not attacking Tyson in the final round, Paul replied: “Tyson was no longer able to resist. I saw no need to hurt him.”

Despite receiving a lot of criticism from fans and experts, Paul affirmed: “I tried my best to bring the best match. But when the opponent is just trying to survive in the ring, it’s hard to create anything special.”

The match ended with tributes to Tyson, but also left many questions about transparency and martial spirit in boxing.