Plenty of people are talking about the upcoming Mike Tyson-Jake Paul fight. It’s always the sign of a big fight, a fight that appeals to the masses, to the casuals, when you overhear people talking about the upcoming bout in the pub, on the bus, in the street, at work, etc…. And say what you want about the Tyson-Paul affair, it has certainly caught major fan interest.
But one of the subjects that is constantly being brought up is, is the fight on the level, will the fight be a real fight or will it be an “arranged” fight, a scripted fight? This is what plenty of people are asking. We know the fight is a sanctioned bout that will feature on the pro records of both men, but plenty of people remain suspicious Tyson will “carry” Paul, or the other way around.
Carl Froch, who spoke with Safebettingsites, had some interesting things to say along these lines. Froch says he has “heard” that Tyson’s contract stipulates that he will get paid less money if he flattens Paul on July 20th.
“From what I’m hearing with the contracts, allegedly, he gets paid less if he wins in round one, Tyson, or if he gets a knockout he gets paid even less,” Froch said. “There’s restrictions in his contract based on how he wins. I don’t know if it’s been confirmed, but I’ve read somewhere that there’s a clause in his contract that means he’s going to earn less money if he goes out there and destroys Jake Paul.”
And, as Froch points out, Tyson’s best chance of winning, perhaps his only chance of winning, is to catch Paul with something big that gets him out of there before “Iron Mike” gasses out at age 58. If what Froch says he has either heard or read is true (and it would be nice to know the sources Froch got his info from) then Tyson looks a good bet to go down a points loser here (the fight scheduled for eight, two-minute rounds). If what Froch says he has heard is correct, the July fight is not all that far from being a fixed fight, really.
Froch, like plenty of other people, says the fight should not be happening, that Tyson at his age against Paul, who is 30 years younger, should not be fighting. But the fight is happening, even if it might not be a fight that is fought on what could be called an even playing field. If Tyson is taking this fight primarily for the money, and if he knows he will suffer a major pay cut if he flattens Paul, Tyson will very likely either pull his punches or throw them sparingly.
Again, though, it would be great to know where Froch heard what he heard.