In the aftermath of his fight with Jake Paul last month, Mike Tyson is allegedly being sued. Tyson and Paul locked horns at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, in a disappointing affair which failed to live up to the hype. Paul won the fight, which was being shown live on Netflix, with the 58-year-old only landing a total of 58 punches throughout the ‘contest’, against a much younger opponent.
And now, ‘Iron Mike’ is facing another disappointment as he, along with his company Tyrannic, are being sued by Medier for almost £1.25 million. Medier is a company registered in Cyprus, which promotes Rabona Sportsbook & Online Casino. They are accusing Tyson of breaking a deal to promote a gambling company in order to take on Paul.
Public documents were made available on Friday, with Medier’s lawyers stating: “The true reason for Mr. Tyson and Tyrannic’s hasty and unlawful termination was because Mr. Tyson had agreed a deal, sponsored by Netflix, to fight the influencer Jake Paul.”
The lawyers representing Medier added that Tyson’s breach of contract cost them just over £1.2m. It should be noted that the lawsuit also claims that Tyson terminated the deal because Medier breached their agreement. The deal was originally agreed in January.
The lawsuit, filed at London’s High Court in October, says Tyson terminated the deal in March – the same day his fight with Paul was announced – because Medier breached their agreement. Per CBS Sports, Tyson’s friend, UFC fighter Henry Cejudo, said “Iron” Mike made $20 million for fighting Paul. So if Medier are successful, then paying off what they want from Tyson shouldn’t make too much of a dent in that!
Paul reportedly pocketed a $40 million purse. The earnings were slightly skewed, however, because Paul promoted the fight and because of his large social media following. The fight was also peppered with ads for sports betting company DraftKings.
Tyson and Tyrannic have yet to formally respond to the lawsuit but are expected to file a defence in the near future. They did, however, issue a statement to the New York Post: “It is the company’s position that Medier, Ltd. materially breached the terms of its license agreement on multiple occasions and in various ways. As such, Tyrannic, LLC was well within its legal and contractual rights to terminate the license agreement for material breach in an effort to mitigate additional reputational harm to the Tyson brand.”
Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson a Success For Netflix
Despite the fight’s lack of powerful punches and numerous streaming delays, it proved to be a significant commercial success for Netflix. The media behemoths announced that streaming “peaked at 65 million concurrent streams watching around the world, with 38 million concurrent streams in the United States,” according to a Netflix press release.
While Medier seeks compensation for the alleged breach, Tyson’s future in the ring and his reputation outside it are at stake. With legal proceedings underway and fans divided over his recent fight, the road ahead could be as unpredictable as his boxing career once was.
Whether the lawsuit will affect Tyson’s ventures or spark new controversies remains to be seen, but one thing is certain; the former champ’s latest moves have landed him in a high-stakes fight outside the ring.