After months of build-up and seemingly endless advertising, the boxing match between former Disney Channel star Jake Paul and former heavyweight champion of the world Mike Tyson has been postponed. Originally, the bout was scheduled to take place on July 20th in Texas, hosted by Netflix and Most Valuable Promotions.
Reportedly, the heavily-publicised fight has been rescheduled as a result of recent health problems that have plagued the 57-year-old Mike Tyson. In a statement, the legendary boxer shared, “Unfortunately, due to my ulcer flareup, I have been advised by my doctor to lighten my training for a few weeks to rest and recover”.
Tyson then clarified, “My body is in better overall shape than it has been since the 1990s and I will be back to my full training schedule soon”. It is, at the time of writing, unclear when Tyson will be match-fit for the fight with the 27-year-old Jake Paul, although a new date for the match is set to be revealed on June 3rd, according to Netflix and Most Valuable Promotions.
“Both Mike and Jake are in agreement that it is only fair to ensure that both athletes have equal training time to prepare for this important match and are able to compete at the highest level,” Most Valuable Promotions said in a statement.
For his part, Jake Paul has shared, “I fully support postponing the event so Mike Tyson has no excuses come fight night,” adding that he did not want to face Tyson “at anything but his best”. Unfortunately for Paul, time travel technology has yet to be perfected, so he will inevitably have to settle for a nearly 60-year-old man who had not boxed professionally in nearly two decades.
Paul’s most recent fight occurred in March this year, in which he bestest Ryan Bourland – who originally retired from boxing in 2018 – by a technical knock-out. Across his record, consisting mostly of fights with UFC fighters, Paul has only lost one match, when Tommy Fury won by split decision in 2023.
Thus far, organisers have yet to clarify what will happen to the other fights due to take place on the same card as Paul v Tyson at Arlington’s AT&T stadium. It is expected, however, that these will be rescheduled for the new date too.
