In the build-up to the controversial fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson, few critics were as harsh on the bout as former super middleweight world champion, Carl Froch. ‘The Cobra’ took regular shots at the contest – insisting that the 31-year age gap between the two participants was ridiculous. At one point, Froch even suggested that the fight would be scripted, with Tyson being paid not to knock Paul out.

Now that the fight has taken place – with Paul running out an easy winner – Froch sat down with CasinoApps.com on behalf of GIVEMESPORT to discuss the contest. Having watched the action unfold, the Nottingham man is more convinced than ever that ‘Iron Mike’ was holding back.

The 58-year-old legend barely landed a punch across the eight-round scrap, which Froch believes was by design all along. Early in the fight, Tyson landed a rather stiff jab on Paul, but then failed to follow up on that success. Tyson seemed to back off and footage of this has since gone viral, with some fans branding it ‘the moment that Tyson stopped in order to make sure he got paid’.

Carl Froch Accuses Mike Tyson of ‘Playing a Role’ During Jake Paul Fight
‘The Cobra’ held nothing back with brutal assessment of Tyson’s performance

Asked for his feelings on the fight, Froch savaged Tyson’s showing. He declared:

“Yeah. I do think that Mike Tyson played to a script and he was playing a role and he was saying like ‘just don’t throw the punch, don’t throw the left hook’. 100% the fight was scripted because Mike Tyson came out in round one and threw a couple of shots and had a go.”

Blasting the New York native for not going after his opponent after his opening salvo, Froch stated: “Even at 58 years old you’ve still got a 20 second burst. It’s the fight or flight mechanism. It’s the survival instinct from when we used to roam around and we were at the top of the food chain.

“Mike Tyson never actually exploded with a combination of punches or never really went for it. At any stage in the whole fight.”

The fight went to the judges’ scorecards following the eight, two-minute rounds, with Paul winning via unanimous decision by scores of 80-72 and 79-73 twice. However, Froch feels that Tyson could have fared far better had he been willing to pull the trigger and throw punches with intent.

Froch pointed out: “It looked like he [Tyson] was almost acting, he was getting himself in good positions naturally, making shots, slipping and rolling under him, and then when he was in front, even threw half a right hand, he rolled one shot, got in front of Jake Paul.

“Paul was off balance, and Tyson was poised to his right, coiled up, ready to throw the right hook, and he sort of threw half a shot. And, Paul’s head was there, Tyson’s glove was there, and he stopped.”

In total, Tyson only landed 18 of the 97 punches he threw across the fight’s eight-round duration. ‘The Problem Child’ was hardly perfect, but still found the target significantly more often, landing 78 of 278 total blows.

It all combined to make for a fight that petered out in its latter stages, with areas of the AT&T Stadium in Texas emptying before the main event had even finished after boos echoed thanks to a lack of action. And it wasn’t just in the arena where fans sounded their dissatisfaction, with many taking to social media to voice their frustrations about the ‘snooze-fest’ main event.

Such is Tyson’s legendary status that his performance won’t affect his long-time legacy. However, few will be in a rush to watch Paul box more legends of the sport, given how poor the in-ring action was in Texas.