The original scheduled bout between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul for July 20th has been postponed after Tyson’s recent ulcer flare-up incident which has forced him to suspend training for his upcoming bout against Paul. As a result, the entire event has been postponed; to the detriment of the fighters that were set to compete on the card including Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano who were preparing for their long-awaited rematch. The event had been set to take place at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The exclusive broadcaster for the event, Netflix, broke the news regarding the postponement of the July 20th event.
“Unfortunately Jake Paul and Mike Tyson will not face-off on July 20 as planned,” Netflix said through an official statement. “Tyson’s recent ulcer flare up has limited his ability to train fully for the next few weeks.
“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!“
The recent ulcer flare-up that Mike Tyson suffered during a plane trip from Miami to Los Angeles has reignited discussions on the validity of the match due to the age difference between Tyson and Jake Paul, with Tyson’s recent incident indicating that the parties involved are more concerned about the monetary benefits of the spectacle bout than the risks associated with such a fight. Through Netflix’s clientele of millions of subscribers and the 80.000 capacity AT&T Stadium reportedly sold out within months, the event’s main stakeholders and headliners Tyson and Paul were set to rake in a substantial amount of earnings for July 20th.
The card’s competitors are now forced to wait until Tyson’s full recovery to restart their preparations. This includes Katie Taylor (23-1, 6 KO’s) and Amanda Serrano (46-2-1, 30 KO’s) who were in the midst of preparing for a rematch at 140 lbs which would see Irish undisputed champion Taylor defending al her super lightweight titles against Serrano―who was willing to move up three divisions to rematch Taylor from the featherweight division where she is currently still the unified [WBA, WBO and IBF] world champion .
Other fighters that were set to compete on the card will also have been affected, forced to cancel their training camps―of which the financing of said camps usually comes out of the fighters’ own pockets.
The concerns of Mike Tyson’s vast age difference compared to the 27-year old Jake Paul has also grabbed attention following his latest health scare. With Tyson set to reach the age of 58 by June 30th, the ulcer flare-up may be closely related to his age as peptic ulcers are most common in seniors aged 60 or above.
The exact type of ulcer that Tyson suffered from, however, has not been publicly divulged―but several doctors inteviewed by USA Today have speculated the former heavyweight world champion may be suffering from peptic ulcer.
“Peptic ulcers frequently present with abdominal pain and abdominal discomfort, nausea, vomiting, dyspepsia,” Christopher Cao―an [assistant] professor of gastroenterology1―told USA Today. “With regards to dizziness, it’s certainly possible, especially if somebody is dehydrated if they’ve been having episodes.”
Another gastroenterologist that USA Today spoke with about Tyson’s health scare has stressed the need for recovery time; which has purportedly led to the postponement of the Tyson-Paul fight. The severity of the ulcer could have potentially played a role in the event’s postponement, with one medical expert in particular claiming that Tyson could return to training quickly if no bleeding was involved during his ulcer flare-up.
“I would suggest that unless he had a catastrophic bleeding, which can happen, my best guess (is) he’ll be fine in July for the fight,’’ Wisconsin-based gastroenterologist Marc Kennedy told USA Today. “Once patients have been found to have an ulcer and they’re on those medications (to heal the ulcer), they get pretty rapid healing.“
However, Kennedy also indicated it could take several months for an individual to fully heal from an ulcer.
“When I say rapid, they’ll feel better pretty quickly, within days. And it can take up to three months for the ulcer to completely heal, but if they’re on the therapy, usually they can get back to normal life.”
With Tyson’s spokespeople keeping a close lid on the exact condition of the former retired fighter’s ulcer flare, the exact extent of his medical issues are unknown. Depending on the ulcer that Tyson is suffering from, the event could be postponed until September or August, or potentially until later this year.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastroenterology ↩︎
