Jake Paul insisted he suffered a pre-fight injury and prevented himself from knocking out Mike Tyson during his unanimous decision win.

The 27-year-old Underline the former heavyweight champion, who is 31 years her senior, and the judges scored the match 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73 in favor of the Troubled Child.

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The contest proved to be a tough watch for boxing fans, with the “Badest Man on the Planet” looking every age.

A shadow of his former self in the ring, Paul has won praise for appearing to hold his own in the stoppage. “Iron Mike” within the distance.

Paule insisted that was the case in his post-fight press conference, also revealing that an injury he picked up in camp meant he wasn’t 100 percent.

He said: “Two weeks ago I sprained my ankle, completely tore the ligament, the ACL and tore the other side of my leg.

“(I) was on crutches for four or five days and it just hindered the end of training camp.

“I don’t know how it didn’t leak or something. I missed about two weeks of sparring and that’s why my cardio didn’t feel so good tonight.”

The former Disney actor then confessed that he resisted the temptation to try to destroy Tyson.

Commenting on his fight with the 58-year-old, Paul remarked: “I wanted to give the fans a show.

“But I didn’t want to hurt someone who didn’t need to be hurt.

“There was a moment when he didn’t engage at the back, I realized his age was showing a little bit.

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“That war thing with the violence… that went away as the rounds went on. People just love to hate me. I purposely say things that people hate.

“That’s what I like to do. If people want to see more… give me a few months. I tried to give the best fight possible.

“When someone is just surviving in the ring, it’s hard to make it interesting. I don’t care what people have to say. It is what it is.”

Paul also posted a tweet from talkSPORT boxing editor Michael Benson saying “He did the right thing, not chasing the knockout”.

Many will argue, if that is the case, why did Paul fight Tyson in the first place?

Following the bout, numerous boxers and former fighters criticized the Ohio native for exploiting Tyson in his old age.

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Three-weight world champion Gervonta Davis was strongly critical to Paul, as he posted on Instagram: “To the bozo who shared the ring with Mike, you’re a total bozo for it and you didn’t do the damn thing.”

Before adding: “I’m going to get the brakes off him. When I catch him, uppercut, jab, left hook, uppercut, then just watch.”

Former WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew, meanwhile, has gone so far as to insist that the boxing world boycott Paul until he fights a suitable opponent.

“We are all to blame for this man!!” Bellew wrote on X.

“We’re all talking and watching! We have to stop this fool! Don’t tune in to him until he fights someone who’s sane and not a grandpa!

“Any boxers helping Paul need to look at themselves! It’s just sad.”

As for YouTuber-turned-boxer KSI, he called the contest “disgusting” and that it was “elder abuse”.

Despite what turned out to be a scrappy fight, both Tyson and Paul were paid handsomely to pit their minds against each other.

Tyson reportedly pocketed a guaranteed $20m (£15.8m) for his part in the clash, while Paul could earn double with a total purse of $40m (31 .4 million pounds).