It looks like an ulcer flare-up on a plane won’t stop a 58-year-old Mike Tyson from fighting 27-year-old Jake Paul in July.
The legendary boxer suffered a medical emergency Sunday on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles, becoming “nauseous and dizzy due to an ulcer flare-up 30 minutes before landing,” a representative for the former undisputed heavyweight champion said in a statement to The Times on Monday.
Nonetheless, Tyson’s heavyweight bout against Paul will apparently proceed as scheduled on July 20. On Tuesday, Tyson posted on X, providing a medical update as well as a little trash talk toward the YouTube-influencer-turned-boxer.
“Now feeling 100%,” Tyson wrote on X, “even though I don’t need to be to beat Jake Paul.
Paul appeared to address rumors that the fight might be off with a tweet on Monday.
“You love to make s— up before knowing the facts for clicks / likes,” Paul wrote. “Nothing changed #PaulTyson.”
Read more: Mike Tyson ‘doing great’ after medical emergency on flight to L.A.
The Tyson-Paul fight is scheduled to take place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The event is being promoted by Most Valuable Promotions and will stream live on Netflix, and both companies are still advertising it on their websites.
The bout has been classified as a sanctioned, professional fight by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations, taking place over eight two-minute rounds with each fighter wearing 14-ounce gloves. That has not changed since the events over the weekend, the department’s communications manager Tela Goodwin Mange told The Times in an email Tuesday.
“TDLR is aware of media reports regarding an episode involving Mr. Tyson,” Goodwin Mange wrote. “At present, Mr. Tyson and Mr. Paul have met the medical requirements for this event. Before the event in July, TDLR will conduct pre-fight physicals to ensure the health of both fighters.”
First responders met American Airlines flight 1815 after it landed at LAX “due to the medical needs of a customer,” an airline statement said.
“Thankfully Mr. Tyson is doing great,” his publicist said Monday in a statement.
Read more: Mike Tyson to fight Jake Paul. Yes, an ex-heavyweight champ is boxing a YouTuber on Netflix
Tyson is considered an all-time boxing great, but he is several decades past his prime. He retired as a professional boxer with a 50-6 record and 44 knockouts in 2005 — Paul was 8 at the time — and last fought in a 2020 exhibition match against former champion Roy Jones Jr., which was declared a draw.
Paul (9-1, 6 KO) has been criticized for facing opponents who are either not boxers by trade, including several aging mixed martial arts stars, or unknown boxers.
Former World Boxing Council light-middleweight champion and current DAZN commentator Sergio Mora told The Times on Tuesday that he thinks the fight “is not gonna end well for Mike Tyson and his legacy.”
“He’s almost a senior citizen, smokes weed — you know, he lives his best life,” Mora said of Tyson, who will turn 58 on June 30. “Jake Paul’s taking boxing seriously. He has the money to actually have great minds and great camps and the best nutrition. He’s a strong, naturally gifted athlete. He can pick up stuff pretty quickly, better and faster than a lot of people.”
Mora added of Tyson’s recent medical emergency: “I think this might be a blessing in disguise where some red flags will start being popped up. … If something happens to Mike, it’s not gonna be a good thing for everybody that supported him” in the bout against Paul.
Read more: Man punched by Mike Tyson on plane demands $450,000. Lawyer says ex-champ won’t pay ‘shakedown’
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
