‘I was worried’ – Mike Tyson reveals real reason he decided to go ahead with Jake Paul fight despite health risk
Mike Tyson feared he would be sued if he pulled out of fighting Jake Paul for a second time. The heavyweight legend made an unlikely full professional return against YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul at the age of 58, and was outpointed in a blockbuster commercial event. Tyson had health issues in the build-up to facing PaulGETTY Widespread concern had plagued the build-up given the veteran’s age and health. He was originally forced to pull out from their original July 2024 planned date, after a flare up of his stomach ulcer left him in a bad way. Tyson was medically cleared to step in the ring in November, but was a shadow of himself and could barely muster a whimper in the contest. After the fight, ‘Iron Mike’ claimed he nearly died in the build-up requiring blood transfusions and medical treatment to return to a stable condition. It was a concerning admission, and boxing fans questioned why he simply didn’t just abandon the plans. But in a new interview with Fox Nation, he revealed exactly why he chose not to. He admitted: “I haven’t thought about that [if it weakened him]. “I was worried about getting sued, you know, because I was like, God, they’re going to sue me if I don’t do this fight. “I had a bloody ulcer, like three inches. Kept bleeding and bleeding. “And I had to have, what, 10 blood transfusions. Each time I do this, I was like the same doing Roy Jones as doing this one. Luckily Tyson came from the fight unscathedGetty “My wife sees me screaming because my body is in so much pain. And I come home, I’m like, ah, ah. I promise I wouldn’t do this to myself.” Given Tyson’s alarming admissions, it is now highly unlikely that he will return to the squared circle again as he approaches the age of 60. He was able to avoid serious or permanent damage from his exploit, and earned $20million from the successful revenue-generating event. After financial ruin following his stellar professional career, Tyson is delighted to be financially stable and has already invested in a new property. The fight was a dull spectacle with Paul unable to stop the former undisputed champion, carrying his own issues. But ‘El Gallo’ admits he made it that to avoid inflicting serious injury on Tyson. It is likely Tyson has been seen in the ring for the last timeEsther Lin/MVP He said: “I wanted to give the fans a show. “But I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt. “There was a point where he was not engaging back, I could just tell his age was showing a little bit. “That violence war thing… that went away as the rounds went on. People just love to hate me. I intentionally say things for people to hate. “That’s what I like to do. If people want to see more… give me a couple of months. I tried to give the best fight I possibly could. “When someone’s just surviving in the ring, it’s hard to make it exciting. I don’t care what people have to say. It is what it is.” Follow talkBOXING on social media talkBOXING is now on Twitter and Facebook. Follow us on social media for big breaking boxing news, exclusive interviews and the best bits from our talkBOXING YouTube show. Like our Facebook page HERE Follow us on Twitter HERE Sign up for our WhatsApp channel HERE
Mike Tyson feared he would be sued if he pulled out of fighting Jake Paul for a second time.
The heavyweight legend made an unlikely full professional return against YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul at the age of 58, and was outpointed in a blockbuster commercial event.
Widespread concern had plagued the build-up given the veteran’s age and health.
He was originally forced to pull out from their original July 2024 planned date, after a flare up of his stomach ulcer left him in a bad way.
Tyson was medically cleared to step in the ring in November, but was a shadow of himself and could barely muster a whimper in the contest.
After the fight, ‘Iron Mike’ claimed he nearly died in the build-up requiring blood transfusions and medical treatment to return to a stable condition.
It was a concerning admission, and boxing fans questioned why he simply didn’t just abandon the plans.
But in a new interview with Fox Nation, he revealed exactly why he chose not to.
He admitted: “I haven’t thought about that [if it weakened him].
“I was worried about getting sued, you know, because I was like, God, they’re going to sue me if I don’t do this fight.
“I had a bloody ulcer, like three inches. Kept bleeding and bleeding.
“And I had to have, what, 10 blood transfusions. Each time I do this, I was like the same doing Roy Jones as doing this one.
“My wife sees me screaming because my body is in so much pain. And I come home, I’m like, ah, ah. I promise I wouldn’t do this to myself.”
Given Tyson’s alarming admissions, it is now highly unlikely that he will return to the squared circle again as he approaches the age of 60.
He was able to avoid serious or permanent damage from his exploit, and earned $20million from the successful revenue-generating event.
After financial ruin following his stellar professional career, Tyson is delighted to be financially stable and has already invested in a new property.
The fight was a dull spectacle with Paul unable to stop the former undisputed champion, carrying his own issues.
But ‘El Gallo’ admits he made it that to avoid inflicting serious injury on Tyson.
He said: “I wanted to give the fans a show.
“But I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt.
“There was a point where he was not engaging back, I could just tell his age was showing a little bit.
“That violence war thing… that went away as the rounds went on. People just love to hate me. I intentionally say things for people to hate.
“That’s what I like to do. If people want to see more… give me a couple of months. I tried to give the best fight I possibly could.
“When someone’s just surviving in the ring, it’s hard to make it exciting. I don’t care what people have to say. It is what it is.”
