Mike Tyson made claims that he was never paid by Triller for his exhibition fight with Roy Jones Jr. Now the social media entity turned boxing promotor’s owner, Ryan Kavanaugh has issued a response to these claims.
The claims that Tyson made were that Triller never sent payment for his bout with Jones Jr. Furthermore, he levied that he would never compete for them again, and that he only fights for his own Legend’s Only League moving forward, with intents to pursue legal action.
However the tables have turned according to a letter from Kavanaugh, which was uploaded to Twitter by Mike Coppinger. He not only claims to having proof of paying Mike, suggesting someone is lying to Tyson, but said they would pursue legal recourse against him for fighting anywhere else, saying that he holds the rights to Mike’s next exhibitions.
Triller Sends A Letter To Mike Tyson
“As you know I’ve been an admirer of yours for as long as I can remember. When we founded Triller Fight Club and the opportunity arose to work with you, it was a dream come true. Not only did we get to collaborate with you; we had the chance to expose a new, younger generation of boxing fans to an all-time great. Producing your fight with Roy Jones Jr. was one of the highlights of my career.
As you know the initial concept was for you to reunite with Evander Holyfield for a third fight. We agreed to the $25 million price tag for this event. We learned after we agreed to move forward that Evander didn’t want to fight and rather Roy Jones Jr. did, or so we were told by your team. We later learned, in fact, that Evander expressed he would have fought but also had issues with your team.
Rather than drop the price or renegotiate the deal, we agreed to keep the economics the same with the understanding that the Holyfield fight would be the next fight and we pre-agreed to the terms. No one else but Triller was willing to take $25 million dollars of risk on the initial fight, especially in the middle of Covid. We did. Every penny paid in full and no one has ever claimed we did not pay every penny in full.
After the success of that fight, we were proud of our mutual efforts and assumed you and your team would have been elated with the results Triller was able to deliver. We were sure it wouldn’t even be a question regarding our partnership for the next event per our contract.
As we worked to plan the event, Triller and I tried to reach you multiple times. But every time we reached out your team told us that you have no interest in speaking to us or in moving forward with the event much to our surprise and confusion,” the letter from Triller to Mike Tyson reads.
“Triller spent over $30 million dollars on your fight against Roy Jones Jr. More than $25 million of that was paid to Frontline, Legends Only League, and your affiliates; our understanding is that you personally should have walked away with at least $15 million Dollars, if not more. We are unaware of your arrangement with your other partners in Legends Only or Frontline, however, and ask if perhaps somehow you weren’t made aware of the money paid into your entity.
We were told that these companies were representative of your interests and that all of this money was being paid to you. Hearing about some recent comments you’ve made to people in the boxing world, I am starting to suspect that you received only a fraction of the $25 million we sent to you. I’ve heard from multiple sources that you have been made to believe that we did not pay you in full and that you believe you have taken legal action against us.
“I can say with certainty both of these claims are false. As far as payment, I’ve attached bank letters that confirm that all $25 million dollars was paid to Frontline prior to your fight with Roy Jones Jr. As far as the claim that you have pending legal action against Triller, that’s outright false. Unfortunately we had no choice but to take legal against against you, which has been pending due to the events after the fight.
Recently your team reached out hoping to settle the pending suit we have filed against them/you. A suit that Triller took no pleasure in filing, but became unavoidable after your team attempted to move forward on another fight in violation of our agreement and rights. It is unquestionable we have a contractual right to your next fight, including but not limited to with Evander. Having spent over $30 million dollars on your first fight while being told it was a crazy risk no one would take was only because and for this right to a Tyson-Holyfield fight. We have also entered into an agreement directly with Evander.
My team and I have nothing but the upmost respect for you. Instead of turning this into a legal battle, one that would indefinitely hold up your right to fight, we would love to sit down, resolve this, and get you into the ring with Evander. All we have asked is we remove the “middle men” and have a one-on-one conversation. We are confident that together the truth will prevail as will everyone involved.”
Triller’s @RyanKavanaugh responds to Mike Tyson with a letter (obtained by me) affirming that Triller has the rights to Tyson’s next fight and claiming there’s bank receipts Tyson was paid in full ($25 million) for the Roy Jones Jr. event pic.twitter.com/FmRC7NMGoJ
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) June 28, 2021
Time will tell what comes of this, but smart money is on Mike Tyson and Triller coming to some sort of arrangement. Although this is just the latest in a string of rumors that paint the social media platform in a shady light.
