Heavyweight boxing legend Mike Tyson is set to return to professional boxing and take on Jake Paul tomorrow night as the headline attraction of a controversial event that may well out-perform the undisputed heavyweight title contest between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. However, November was not the original plan for Paul-Tyson and ‘Iron Mike’ has now revealed further details regarding the injury that caused the postponement.
Tyson was expected to collide with ‘The Problem Child’ back on July 20th, ending a run of almost two years without a professional bout and hoping to pull off the upset against a rival who is over 30 years younger.
Yet, the two-time heavyweight champion was made to wait for his chance to silence Paul after he was forced to withdraw from their July clash due to an injury, described as stomach ulcers at the time of the announcement.
Paul would go on to proceed with the date and replace Tyson with Mike Perry – who was halted in six rounds and the YouTuber-turned-boxer’s meeting with ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ was re-announced for November 15th.
Speaking with New York Magazine, Mike Tyson provided the graphic detail as to why he could not overcome his health concerns and fight back in July, raising further questions as to whether he will have fully recovered by Friday night.
“I was in the bathroom throwing up blood,”
“I asked the doctor, ‘Am I going to die?’ He said, ‘We have options.’ Options? I couldn’t believe it.
“I had, like, eight blood transfusions. The doctor said I lost half my blood. I almost died.
“I lost 25 pounds in 11 days. Couldn’t eat. Only liquids. Every time I went to the bathroom, it smelled like tar. Didn’t even smell like shit anymore. It was disgusting.
“It threw me off [when I continued training]. All my coordination, stamina, everything was hectic getting back. I was peaked already. I could have fought him that day. Now I got to start from scratch.
“I just don’t give up. I’m an asshole sometimes. I’m a dick. If I haven’t outlived my enemies, I’ve turned them into my friends.”
Despite not having the accolades of his older dance-partner, Jake Paul will step through the ropes as the bookmaker’s favourite and hopes to call-out an even more frightening opponent should he get through Tyson unscathed.
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