Jake Paul’s business partner has fired back at Michael Irvin over the idea that the YouTuber’s fight with Mike Tyson contained a contract provision that would’ve heavily tilted the bout towards Paul.
After Paul won the fight convincingly, Irvin appeared on multiple shows and claimed to have heard that there was a stipulation in the fight contract that prevented Tyson from utilizing his trademark uppercut, referring to the fight as a “big lie” due to the alleged clause.
Nakisa Bidarian, the co-founder of MVP Promotions, which promoted the fight, appeared on “The Ariel Helwani Show” on Yahoo Sports and slammed the idea that it would’ve been rigged in this manner.
“The only thing that bothers me is the continued narrative and people saying that the fight was rigged,” Bidarian said.
“I saw something from Michael Irvin — he was on the broadcast; he actually sat there with Jerry Jones — I saw something this week where he was like, ‘Oh yeah, I saw the contract and Mike couldn’t throw an uppercut.’
“Are you — I’m concerned that there’s a CTE problem there for Michael Irvin because how would you see the contract to begin with that Mike Tyson couldn’t throw an uppercut? It’s beyond lunacy and the realm of the reality of life.”
Irvin did not claim to have seen the contract but passed along gossip that he’d purportedly heard about it.
Paul won the fight by unanimous decision in eight rounds, with a number of observers suggesting that it was untoward that he seemingly did not attempt to knock Tyson out.
Paul admitted after the fight that he “definitely” took his foot off the pedal.
“This was a regulated, professional bout by the Texas Athletic Commission. We were partners with Netflix, the biggest media company in the world who’s a public company, and for anyone to suggest in any way that this was a rigged fight — they’re either dumb or they’re looking for attention,” Bidarian told Helwani.