Niamh Shackleton
Mike Tyson is facing a pricey lawsuit from a Cyprus-based gambling company.
Apparently, the former heavyweight champion had a promotional deal with Medier, a Cyprus-registered company that promotes online casino and betting company Rabona, but Tyson is said to have failed to hold up his end on the bargain in favor of fighting Jake Paul.
In the suit, which was filed in London in October, Medier say Tyson and his company Tyrannic terminated the January agreement they'd made on the day the Netflix special was announced in March.
It was alleged that Medier breached the agreement, which lead to Tyson ending it.
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The gambling company has denied any wrongdoing though, and said that its actions did not constitute a breach of the deal, USA Today reports.
Medier claim that Tyson's actions have cost it around 1.46 million euros ($1.59 million).
"The true reason for Mr Tyson and Tyrannic's hasty and unlawful termination was because Mr Tyson had agreed a deal, sponsored by Netflix, to fight the influencer Jake Paul," the company's lawyer said in documents made public on Friday (December 6).
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It isn't thought that Tyson and Tyrannic have yet filed a defence to the lawsuit, but Tyson’s representatives have released a statement to UNILAD, claiming: "Medier materially breached the terms of its agreement with Tyrannic multiple times by exceeding the scope of the restricted license that was granted, causing, among other things, financial and reputational damage to the company and Mr. Tyson.
"Tyrannic properly terminated the agreement and is confident that the Court will view this dispute in its favor."
Tyson and Jake Paul went head-to-head on November 16, with the YouTuber-turned-boxer proving victorious against the boxing legend.
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The eight-round fight, which took place at the AT&T Stadium in Texas and was streamed on Netflix, was scored 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73 in favour of Paul.
Despite the defeat, Tyson, 58, said he's not opposed to returning to the ring.
Speaking to Netflix after the bout, Tyson left the window open for future fights.
Asked if it was the last time he would be seen in a ring, Tyson said: "I don’t know. It depends on the situation."
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"I don’t think so," he added.
In fact, he went on to challenge Paul's older brother Logan - and he seemed to be game.
"You got more in you, who crosses the mind?" Tyson was asked.
Pointing at Logan, he replied: "Oh, I don't know. Maybe his brother."
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Logan went on to say that he'd 'kill' the boxing legend in what appeared to be a roundabout way of accepting the challenge...