Hollywood icon’s Mike Tyson conspiracy theory sparks storm

One of the baddest men in Hollywood has gone public with an explosive theory after seeing close friend Michael Tyson flop.

Hollywood icon Sylvester Stallone believes Mike Tyson was acting as his blockbuster fight with Jake Paul descended into farce.

The 58-year-old lost on points but went the full eight rounds against the influencer-turned-boxer, who stepped into the ring 31 years his junior.

Conspiracy theories about the fight have spread across cyberspace after the lifeless end to the fight where both combatants embraced before the final bell.

BOXING: INOUE VS GOODMAN | Australia’s Sam Goodman is set for a blockbuster Christmas Eve fight against undefeated Naoya ‘The Monster’ Inoue in Tokyo. Watch LIVE TUE 24 DEC 7PM AEDT | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.

Tyson started the on the front foot before seemingly beginning to tire and fall away from round three onwards.

By the final round, few punches were thrown and stats show Paul landed just 78 across the fight.

Tyson scored even fewer, connecting with his rival just 18 times.

The fight fizzed out in the later rounds and Paul even made the staggering statement that he deliberately avoided knocking Tyson out.

Two dangerous fighters. Plus Mike Tyson and Jake Paul.

There has now been another dramatic twist with Stallone going public with his theory Tyson put on a show.

The Rocky actor wrote his message on Instagram while sharing several photos of himself with the former “Baddest Man On The Planet”.

“Business is business. SOMETIMES you have to do hard things and sacrifice for the sake of helping your FAMILY,” he wrote.

“I have known this unbelievable athlete since he’s 19 years old and what we saw was him giving one of the great Oscar winning performances of all time!!!!

“Please, Jake, be grateful, HE SPARED YOUR LIFE! Trust me.

“Keep punching Mike. There will never be a MAN like you, a GLADIATOR like you, and a SOUL like you!

“Keep punching champion of champions! I remember once I bumped into him and thought I was hit by runaway BULLDOZER.”

Mike Tyson and Rocky Balboa. Photo: Instagram, Sylvester Stallone.

Sylvester Stallone ain't buying it.

That post has sparked chaos across cyberspace with fans showing support for the latest conspiracy theory.

One commentator posted: “Oh wow! Stallone admitting the Jake Paul VS Mike Tyson fight was rigged!

“It didn’t make sense to me that Tyson looked so good in training and sparring sessions but when it came to the fight he held back. Now we know. That’s why he was biting down on his glove. He wanted to go all in but was held back by the contract.”

Speculation about the contract between the two fighters has been burning ever since Paul’s hand was raised following Saturday’s fight at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas.

It exploded when former British boxer Carl Froch claimed he had heard: “There’s a clause in there that says Tyson can’t go for it (a knockout)”.

Jake Paul announced as winner against Mike Tyson. Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for Netflix.

NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin has also raised eyebrows with when sharing his theory about why Tyson looked so toothless against Paul.

Irvin is the latest public figure to question if the contract included a clause banning Tyson from throwing an uppercut — his most devastating punch.

“I didn’t see one patented uppercut by Mike Tyson,” he said on the latest episode of the It Is What It Is podcast.

Mike Tyson was NOT allowed to throw UPPERCUTS!
🤦‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/MjCX5awKal

— In2ThinAir (@In2ThinAir) November 18, 2024

It’s this moment right here that proves two things

1) Mike Tyson held back

2) Match was rigged

That is a classic Tyson punch typically followed by right hook left hook right upper cut while he walks and rushes forward.

Clearly here you can see that start but he held back, he… pic.twitter.com/4DFA1XeMKd

— St. Sola (@STSOLA808) November 16, 2024

“You taking away Mike Tyson’s best gift, which was that uppercut. Man, that’s a big lie to me. That’s like making me play a game without running a slant route in the deep end or the deep out. You do what you do best. If they take that away you not that dude anymore, and they took that away.”

Irvin also said on Fox Sports’ The Herd with Colin Cowherd that “it was fixed”.

It pours fuel on the fire of other conspiracy theories that have claimed Tyson pulled punches in the early rounds.

Paul has insisted this is not the case.

Bang. Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images for Netflix.

“People are like, ‘Oh, it’s rigged because look at him on the pads’,” he said on brother Logan Paul’s podcast.

“He didn’t do this in the fight because someone is f**ing punching back, you dumb f***s.

“You don’t realise my power, and my speed, and my agility, and my footwork to get out of the way of those punches.”

“All of a sudden he’s throwing at air. He can’t land those punches on me.”

He also said Tyson’s punches didn’t phase him as tall.

“Didn’t feel a thing, to be honest,” he said.

“It didn’t hurt. He didn’t really land anything.”

Asked about not going for the knockout blow, Paul said in his press conference: “There was a point where I was like he is not really engaging back.

“So I don’t know if he is tired. I can just tell his age was showing a little bit.

“I just have so much respect for him and that war thing between us after he slapped me, I wanted to be aggressive, take him down and knock him out.

“But that kind of went away as the rounds went on.

“I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt.”

Holding back on the killer shot annoyed fans, with some calling it the “worst fight ever” and “con of the century”.