Is Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua ‘scripted’? MVP chief addresses accusations fight is rigged

We are just days away from the opening bell and some fight fans still have lingering concerns over Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua.

Suggesting these two would headline a professional heavyweight contest would have had you laughed out of town just a few years ago.

Fighting aging former MMA champions wasn’t leaving much of an impression on boxing’s elite with Paul still viewed as an influencer boxer at best.

His defeat to Tommy Fury 2023 did nothing to dampen suggestions he was a willing but limited novice, best suited for the sport’s sideshow element than challenging any legitimate professional with world title aspirations.

But Paul has persevered and after years of calling out boxing’s biggest names, lured a 58-year-old Mike Tyson out of retirement last year.

Cries of a fix on social media were rampant as Paul comfortably beat the man once known as the ‘baddest man on the planet’ – claims he and his group Most Valuable Promotions [MVP] have repeatedly dismissed.

Metro raised the topic with Nakisa Bidarian, Paul’s long-time business partner and chief executive of MVP in the days that followed the fight announcement.

While reminding sceptics that any form of ‘rigging’ is a federal crime, he addressed the conspiracy theories head on.

Bidarian explained the only occasion Paul and MVP took on a ‘non-traditional’ approach was in the Tyson fight – but in a manner that benefited the former world champion, not Paul.

‘Jake Paul has 13 fights. The only time we have done anything that is different to traditional men’s boxing was with Mike Tyson, which was the commission [the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations] approving two-minute rounds instead of three-minute rounds,’ Bidarian told Metro.

‘And instead of 10oz gloves we had the commission approve 14oz gloves and they still sanctioned it as a professional fight.

‘So if that is rigging a fight, then we rigged that fight, I guess. Because it gave Mike, not Jake, the advantage to do two-minute rounds instead of three. And it gave Mike, not Jake, the advantage of having 14oz gloves, because we recognised he is 58 and didn’t want him getting hit with a 10oz glove that has much more impact.

‘That is the only time in our 13 fights we have done anything that is an anomaly. And that was all done for Mike’s benefit.’

Talk of a WWE-style script has also done the rounds for the Joshua fight. ‘Is there a script? Yeah, there is a script: we come out and try to knock him out clean – out cold – as soon as possible.’ Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn said.

Hearn continued. ‘And by the way: firstly, it’s illegal to have a script when there’s a professional, sanctioned contest; two, we would never be involved in an exhibition fight. Do you think I would sign up to something that might make AJ look bad or go [for multiple] rounds?

“No, we wanna go in there, do a job for boxing, which is what we should be doing, which is ironing this guy out ASAP.’

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