Featured Image Credit: Sarah Stier / Staff/Cooper Neill / Stringer
Topics: Jake Paul, Mike Tyson, Sport, Boxing, Celebrity
Gerrard Kaonga
Topics: Jake Paul, Mike Tyson, Sport, Boxing, Celebrity
Many fans were disappointed with the news that the Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson fight had been postponed, but there's 'concerns' that the boxing match could be cancelled altogether.
The sport of boxing has seen a slew of high-profile fights in recent years, but one fight most people weren't anticipating was Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson.
The fight was set to go ahead this summer on July 20 and, at the minimum, had people curious whether the YouTuber-turned-boxer could stand toe to toe with Iron Mike.
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However, these plans were derailed after the 57 year-old Tyson suffered a medical emergency during a flight from Miami to Los Angeles in late May.
He experienced an ulcer flare-up and began feeling nauseous when the flight was 30 minutes from landing in LA.
Initially Tyson said in a post on X that he would still be fit enough to beat up Paul, adding that he didn't even need to be '100%' to win.
However, Netflix, who is broadcasting the fight, announced this medical emergency had prevented Tyson from being able to train so the fight had been postponed indefintely.
"Unfortunately Jake Paul and Mike Tyson will not face-off on July 20 as planned. Tyson’s recent ulcer flare up has limited his ability to train fully for the next few weeks." they said.
"The fight will be rescheduled for a date later this year after Mike’s able to resume training with no limitations and both fighters can have equal time to prepare for this once-in-a-lifetime matchup!"
A new date hasn’t yet been announced but Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix has claimed there are fears that the fight won't go ahead at all.
Speaking on The Rich Eisen Show, Mannix highlighted the many issues he thinks are arising behind the scenes.
“There is genuine concern from people that are also on the card, I mean, there are another number of fights that are on the card, about this specific card moving forward,” he claimed.
“They’re saying it’s a minor ulcer issue, but I don’t think anything’s minor at that stage of your life, especially when it comes to putting yourself in the proper shape to fight a professional boxing match.”
He also claimed that ahead of the fight's postponement, he had been following Tyson around when he was in New York in hopes of speaking with the former heavyweight champion, but was repeatedly told that he was ‘intensive training mode’.
He added: “There is some concern among people involved in the fight that the Paul – Tyson fight might not go through at all, and some of the fighters on this card might be looking for lifeboats to appear on other cards going forward.
“I don’t think it’s completely off. It’s certainly not out of the question, but again, there are people involved expressing skepticism that this specific fight is gonna move forward.”
UNILAD has contacted Netflix, Mike Tyson and Jake Paul's reps for comment.