Sylvester Stallone shares damning comments about Tyson/Paul fight: ‘Just to set my personal record straight…’

Sylvester Stallone has shared his thoughts about Friday’s Mike Tyson v. Jake Paul fight — and he’s saying what a lot of people are thinking.

Jake Paul defeated Mike Tyson. Credit: Christian Petersen / Getty

On November 15, ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ returned to the ring for his first professional fight in 19 years. His opponent? YouTube star Jake Paul – who is 31 years younger than Tyson.

However, with the big names involved and the promise of potentially seeing “Iron” Mike turn back the clock and KO and social media star, it should be no surprise that 60 million households tuned in on Netflix.

Sadly, many viewers – as well as the 70,000+ at the AT&T Stadium in Texas – were left underwhelmed.

Viewers hoped to see the Mike Tyson of old. Credit: Stephen McCarthy / Getty

After eight two-minute rounds, it was evident that Tyson wasn’t the boxer we grew up watching in the 80s and 90s. After a slow and rather dull fight, Paul was declared the winner by unanimous decision.

The action – or lack thereof – even led to many people believing the fight was “staged” and nothing more than a money grab, rather than a true boxing fight.

And this opinion hasn’t just come from viewers on social media.

Hollywood legend Sylvester Stallone has taken to Instagram to share his thoughts on the fight, and he also believes there was a lot of acting involved.

Sylvester Stallone has shared his thoughts on Tyson v. Paul. Credit: Ethan Miller / Getty

Writing to his 18.9 million followers, Stallone praised his longtime friend Mike Tyson, while also sharing his belief that the boxing legend deserved “an Oscar” for his performance.

“Just to set my personal record straight,” Stallone began. “Business is business. SOMETIMES you have to do hard things and sacrifice for the sake of helping your FAMILY.”

Speaking about his relationship with Tyson, Stallone continued: “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!!!!”

Stallone that wrote that Paul should “be grateful” that Tyson “spared his life”.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Sly Stallone (@officialslystallone)

“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!!!”

I mean, who else but fictional boxer Rocky Balboa to highlight a fake fight, right?

Well, the comments on the post were divided, with some people agreeing that there was some funny business going on, with others simply believing that 58-year-old Tyson is just past his prime.

“That was the most rigged fight I’ve ever seen. Mike did what he did for his family,” one person wrote, most likely referring to Tyson’s huge payday for the event.

Another agreed, writing: “It was certainly a farse. Tyson was clearly holding back. Well said Sly!”

Paul came out victorious. Credit: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu/Getty

However, this person disagreed, commenting: “I usually agree with you Sly but this one you are completely wrong. The guy is not an athlete any longer. Father Time is the only one undefeated.”

And a second added: “Sly, We all wanted to see the old Mike Tyson but Rocky said it best… ‘Time, it takes everyone out, its undefeated'”.

Featured image credit: Ethan Miller / Getty