Image of Mike Tyson with Palestinian flag is fabricated | Fact check

A Nov. 14 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) appears to show boxer Mike Tyson with a Palestinian flag draped over his shoulders.
“Mike Tyson poses with the Palestinian flag before his historic fight tomorrow,” reads the post’s caption.
The post was shared more than 8,000 times in six days. Similar versions of the claim were shared on Facebook.
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A spokesperson for Tyson said the image isn’t real.
More than 60 million households tuned in to Tyson’s fight with social media influencer Jake Paul on Nov. 15, in which Paul beat Tyson by unanimous decision.
But the viral image of Tyson with the Palestinian flag before the fight isn’t legitimate.
Jo Mignano, Tyson’s agent, told USA TODAY the image is not real.
AI image detectors showed mixed results on the origin of the flag image. But the lettering on Tyson’s shorts and the ring surrounding him are nonsensical, which is a telltale sign of AI generation since the technology often struggles to generate text.
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There are no credible reports of Tyson donning the flag at his fight with Paul or on any other occasions. The post also claims the image is from the day before the Tyson-Paul fight, but Tyson wore Versace briefs to the weigh-in that day, not black shorts as shown in the flag image.
The boxer has not publicly expressed his views on the war in Gaza, but he did wear a bracelet with the Palestinian flag during a Good Morning Britain interview in 2019.
USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Lead Stories and Check Your Fact also debunked the claim.
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