Terence Crawford Reveals Why He Believes Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson Was Scripted

Terence Crawford is now the latest pundit to question the legitimacy of Jake Paul's boxing career.

The now-retired Crawford is not questioning all of Paul's fights, but he has a hard time believing that Mike Tyson was at his best when he fought 'El Gallo.'

Crawford called the bout "scripted," stating the former heavyweight champion's glove-biting tick was a sign of him restraining himself.

"I think it was scripted," Crawford said on The Joe Rogan Experience. "I ain't never seen Tyson biting his gloves. You could just see it was taking all that he could not to hit him. It's heartbreaking to see an icon go out like that."

Terence Crawford believes the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight was scripted 😬

“I ain’t never seen Tyson biting his gloves. It was taking all that he could not to hit him. It’s heartbreaking seeing an icon go out like that.”

(via @joerogan) pic.twitter.com/Xv6OqqHcGE
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) February 25, 2026

Tyson was uncharacteristically hesitant, but that is to be expected of a 58-year-old man who has suffered multiple medical scares in the last decade.

Crawford said the people around Tyson let him down and should not have let him get back into the ring. "He shouldn't have been in there at all. There's other ways [to make money]."

Paul previously claimed that he would file a defamation lawsuit against anybody who continued to denounce the legitimacy of his career. Only time will tell if he follows through on that and takes legal action against Crawford.

Terence Crawford reignites Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson conspiracies

Fans had a field day with Crawford's comment, which opened the door for conspiracy theorists to return with a vengeance. Many added the 38-year-old's statement to their growing list of "evidence" that the Paul-Tyson fight was a rigged exhibition.

The "evidence" includes Tyson's uncharacteristic hesitancy, Paul supposedly showing signals in the fight, and viral clips of 'Iron Mike' feinting punches that seemingly would have landed flush.

But unless Paul and Tyson had plans to go to federal prison, neither party would have agreed to stage a fight of that magnitude at the peak of sports entertainment. The fight drew over 60 million views and crashed the Netflix servers, while millions of dollars were wagered on Tyson as an underdog.

The expectation that Tyson would keep the same level of aggression he had from his heyday was unrealistic. Tyson can still create mesmerizing clips of himself hitting pads, but the consequences of getting hit in the head by an athletic 27-year-old at this stage of his life are precisely life and death.

Despite his lackluster performance against Paul, Tyson is returning to the ring in 2026 in an exhibition bout against Floyd Mayweather.

Nobody wants to see a legend like Tyson go out on a whimper. It is easier for some to believe that Paul paid him off.