Mike Tyson Sued After Terminating Deal Before Jake Paul Fight

The parent company of a betting conglomerate has filed a lawsuit against former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, saying he terminated an agreement signed earlier this year.

According to The Associated Press, Medier, which promotes the betting company Rabona, filed the legal paperwork on Dec. 9 in London’s High Court. It filed the suit against Tyson and his company, Tyrannic, claiming a deal was made in January, but Tyson terminated the promotional agreement in March.

Rabona is suing Tyson for $1.5 million.

“The true reason for Mr. Tyson and Tyrannic’s hasty and unlawful termination was because Mr. Tyson had agreed to a deal, sponsored by Netflix, to fight the influencer, Jake Paul,” it says in the lawsuit. The company requests that the boxer return more than $800,000 in fees paid to Tyson “in return for which no services were provided” and $729,000 in “wasted production and promotion costs,” according to the filing.

In opposition, Tyson’s attorneys say that Medier breached the contract by failing to obtain Tyson’s approval of promotional materials.

The hype surrounding the fight between Tyson and Paul disappointed boxing enthusiasts and the viewing audience. The 58-year-old Tyson lost a unanimous decision to 27-year-old Paul on Friday, Nov. 15. The fight was lackluster, and Netflix had connectivity issues. Hence, millions of viewers complained about buffering issues, with some unable to enjoy the entire fight.

This led to a Florida resident, Ronald “Blue” Denton, suing the streaming giant for $50 million, according to a report from TMZ. The viewer is suing the company for breach of contract, among other things.

The New York Post reported that Denton wrote, “60 million Americans were hyped to see ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson, ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ versus YouTuber-turner-prizefighter Jake Paul. What they saw was ‘The Baddest Streaming on Planet.’”

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