BOXING legend Butterbean has claimed a “hoax” is at play in Jake Paul’s fight with Mike Tyson.
The controversial clash – scrutinized over their three-decade age gap – was scheduled for June 20 but Tyson, 58, was forced to pull out as a health precaution.
Paul, 27, replaced Mike Perry, 32, after three knockdowns before confirming his rescheduled fight for November 15 against Tyson.
But KO icon Butterbean – whose real name is Eric Esch – insisted the fight will purposefully never go ahead.
He said: “He and Tyson will never fight. This has been a sham from the beginning, just to get Jake’s name up – and it was.
“This guy, everyone is talking about him, but he will never fight Tyson.
“They never planned on fighting each other, because a promoter would never let him fight anyone else in between a fight.
“Never – it’s not that big of a fight. It’s been a farce from the start.”
During the height of her career, Butterbean weighed as much as 36 STONE and only got past the fourth round once – against the great Larry Holmes.
His last boxing fight was in 2013, but he has staged a comeback in recent years, having lost a stunning 14 STONE.
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Butterbean wants to fight Paul and has called him out for a £1.5 million winner-takes-all fight.
He said on TikTok: “Hey Jake Paul, would you fight me for $2 million [£1.5m]? Winner takes all.”
Butterbean, 57, has had more than 100 boxing, kickboxing and MMA fights and even participated in professional wrestling.
He lost a lot of weight after starring on a TV show alongside former wrestler Diamond Dallas Page.
Butterbean had 91 boxing matches – compared to just 11 for Paul’s 10-1.
The social media sensation’s only defeat came in 2023 against Tyson Fury’s brother Tommy, 25, in Saudi Arabia, but he has won four since.
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