Jake Paul’s promotions company has labelled speculation that his win by unanimous decision over Mike Tyson was rigged as “incorrect and baseless”.

The YouTuber-turned-boxer defeated the 58-year-old former undisputed world heavyweight champion over the course of eight two-minute rounds in the controversial bout on November 15. The fight was scored 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73 in favour of the 27-year-old.

Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, which partnered with Netflix for what was the most-streamed global sporting event in history, insisted in a statement released on Monday that they complied with all appropriate regulations for a match that was sanctioned by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations (TDLR).

“Both fighters in good faith performed to the best of their abilities with the goal of winning the fight,” MVP’s statement said.

“There were absolutely no restrictions – contractual or otherwise – around either fighter. Each boxer was able to use his full arsenal to win the fight. Any agreement to the contrary would violate TDLR boxing rules.”

However, reaction to the fight came with questions about its authenticity from big names in the sport, including Hall of Famer Oscar de la Hoya, who posted on social media, “Everybody is talking about how staged this fight was.

“I do believe it was scripted and I believe that Tyson was certainly held back. Look, I’m a fighter and I can see it.

“It goes on their record and it was sanctioned. Jake Paul paid to get the W on his record! For what? For your own personal satisfaction?

“I keep telling you, if you want to be a real fighter like you say you want to be, what are you doing? Who’s next? Joe Biden? You have to fight real fighters.”

Paul himself fuelled some of the rumours when asked in the post-match press conference whether he took his foot off the gas in round three.

“Yeah, definitely. Definitely a bit,” he told reporters. “I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt.”

MVP said it was “illogical and inane” to suggest the company would risk a new and potentially lucrative partnership with Netflix by breaking the rules.

The statement added: “Trash talk and speculation are common in sports, and athletes and promoters need to tolerate nonsensical commentary, jokes and opinions. But suggesting anything other than full effort from these fighters is not only naive but an insult to the work they put into their craft and to the sport itself.”

West Ham produced the perfect away performance as goals from Tomas Soucek and Aaron Wan-Bissaka secured a 2-0 victory over Newcastle to ease the pressure on head coach Julen Lopetegui.

It is a win that Lopetegui will hope kickstarts his Hammers reign, having warned his side could not use a congested fixture schedule as an excuse for failing to ignite their season.

The Irons headed to Newcastle for Monday Night Football having lost two of their last four Premier League games. The spotlight was firmly on Spanish coach Lopetegui and the direction of his team – with home fans having vented their frustrations on the back of a frustrating goalless draw against Everton before the international break.

Lopetegui, who took over from David Moyes in the summer, continues to shut out all the noise, and throughout the encounter on Tyneside his players showed their best face.

Soucek’s well-placed header after 10 minutes was protected at large by Lukasz Fabianski between the posts at the other end, with the veteran goalkeeper denying Anthony Gordon from point-blank range.

Newcastle – who drop a place to 10th on goal difference – had started well, denied the opener when Alexander Isak was fractionally ruled offside before producing a composed finish. The Sweden international then blasted wide, while Gordon flashed another opportunity off target after the restart when fed by substitute Harvey Barnes.

It would prove a costly miss as, just two minutes later, Wan-Bissaka collected Jarrod Bowen’s pass inside to arrow his low shot beyond Nick Pope via the far post.

A resurgent Arsenal are the next visitors to the London Stadium on November 30, which is swiftly followed by a midweek trip to Leicester and then successive Monday night fixtures against Wolves and at Bournemouth. With his side now six points clear of the relegation zone, Lopetegui will hope this is just the start of better things to come.

Carragher: Big result for Lopetegui

Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher speaking on Monday Night Football:

“It’s a brilliant result for West Ham – but for any team going away to Newcastle on a Monday night, you know how tough it’s going to be.

“That would be a tough game for Man City and for Liverpool. The odds were stacked against them to win this game, but they’ve won it.

“They’ve now got to use this as a springboard going forward. It’s more important for the manager than for West Ham.

“There’s no doubt had they lost and then again against Arsenal, they’d have been closer to the bottom three.

“There’s no doubt about it, the situation with the crowd and the owners, it would have got very twitchy for the manager.”

West Ham lethal with Paqueta patrolling midfield

Sky Sports’ Ben Grounds:

Crisis? What crisis? This is what West Ham fans have been crying out for this season: a team full of fight, grit and a cutting edge going forward.

Soucek and Wan-Bissaka combined to burst Newcastle’s bubble to hand Lopetegui breathing space with a priceless Premier League away win.

Eddie Howe’s men were culpable for both goals, but also guilty of not using the wealth of possession they enjoyed effectively enough on a night when chances went begging and with it their hopes of climbing into the top six.

By contrast, the visitors were lethal on the break and produced the most fluent passages of play.

Joe Willock whipped a shot just wide of Fabianski’s left post but, with Carlos Soler linking well with player-of-the-match Lucas Paqueta in the centre of midfield and Bowen and Crysencio Summerville taking a direct approach from the flanks, the Hammers were a constant threat on the counter.

The hosts were in disarray at the back and it took a series of blocks and Pope’s saves from Soucek and Soler to preserve their hopes of a fightback.

Callum Wilson’s penalty appeals, to his astonishment, were waved away on his first appearance of the season following a clumsy challenge by fellow substitute Konstantinos Mavropanos. It was the slice of good fortune West Ham’s performance deserved.

Why West Ham love Mondays – Opta stats

• West Ham have won eight of their last nine Premier League games on a Monday, with the only exception in this sequence being 3-1 loss at Arsenal on Boxing Day 2022.
• Newcastle have lost two of their last three Premier League home games (W1), as many defeats as in their previous 20 league matches at St James’ Park (W13 D5).
• Since making his Premier League debut (01-02-2020), only Jarrod Bowen (46) and Michail Antonio (41) have scored more top-flight goals for West Ham than Tomas Soucek (30). Meanwhile, only Gabriel Magalhaes (16) and James Ward-Prowse (15) have scored more goals from set pieces (excl. penalties) than the Czech midfielder (14) during this period.
• Jarrod Bowen’s assist for Aaron Wan-Bissaka was his 79th Premier League goal involvement for West Ham (46 goals, 33 assists), overtaking Paolo Di Canio (78). Indeed, only Michail Antonio (101) and Mark Noble (82) have more goals and assists combined for the Hammers in the competition than Bowen.

Story of the match in stats…

What’s coming up in the Premier League?

Formula 1 has reached an ‘agreement in principle’ with American car giant General Motors for its Cadillac brand to join the F1 grid as a new 11th team from 2026.

In a stunning turn of events 10 months after American outfit Andretti’s bid to join the grid with backing from GM-owned Cadillac was rejected by F1 for either of the next two seasons, what appears to be a revised offering with General Motors now front and centre appears to have changed the situation.

In a statement, F1 said it had “maintained a dialogue with General Motors, and its partners at TWG Global, regarding the viability of an entry” and that it was now moving forward with the application process to join the grid.

“They have achieved operational milestones and made clear their commitment to brand the 11th team GM/Cadillac, and that GM will enter as an engine supplier at a later time,” added the F1 statement.

“Formula 1 is therefore pleased to move forward with this application process and will provide further updates in due course.”

Rather than Andretti Global, who initiated the original bid, the statement made reference to TWG Global as GM’s F1 partner, the company which now controls the American motorsports operation under new chief executive Dan Towriss after founder Michael Andretti stepped back from day-to-day control.

“General Motors and Cadillac’s commitment to this project is an important and positive demonstration of the evolution of our sport,” said F1 president Stefano Domenicali.

“We look forward to seeing the progress and growth of this entry, certain of the full collaboration and support of all the parties involved.”