Mike Tyson has been warned that his upcoming clash with Jake Paul could be ‘catastrophic’ for his health.

The former undisputed heavyweight champion returns to the ring against Paul on November 15 at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, live on Netflix.

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Paul had a significant size advantage over Tyson when the two faced offCredit: Getty
They were originally scheduled to duke it out on July 20, however, the contest was pushed back four months when Tyson was deemed medically unfit to compete this summer after suffering an ulcer flare-up on a flight to Los Angeles.

Several members of the boxing fraternity had already voiced their concerns over the controversial clash, which has been sanctioned as a professional bout despite the staggering 31-year age between the pair.

Paul is in his athletic prime at 27 and has been actively competing in the paid ranks for the past four years while Tyson is 58 years old and hasn’t boxed professionally since 2005.
Throwback to when Mike Tyson helped the referee hold his rival up after thunderous knockout sent him stumbling into the ropes

World-renowned fitness expert and former Chelsea, Leeds United and England physio Dave Hancock has warned Tyson that the fight could be extremely dangerous for his health.

“Looking from the outside, Mike Tyson’s comeback is purely money-driven,” he said speaking to OLBG.

“If someone’s gonna offer you, X to do Y, you can make a decision whether to do that or not at any age – so therefore your incentive is cash.

“Therefore you will be prepared to put your body on the line in those circumstances in that sport because you know the reward is the cash.

“But physically, as a medical person, I think it could be catastrophic. Especially at that age, because reflexes are reduced, his reaction time’s reduced, he’s not as fit as he used to be…

“There might be cardiothoracic issues, pulmonary issues, all sorts of issues that you’ve inherited as you’ve got older, lifestyle issues, you’re not living the same as what you were doing when you were training.

“But at the end of the day, money talks, going back to the same scenarios about footballers going on end-of-season trips and pre-season trips, it’s because there are huge amounts of money involved.

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Tyson poked fun at Paul’s new look during a press conferenceCredit: Cooper Neill / Getty Images for Netflix
“It’s no different for an individual athlete that could get a payday for a one-off bout with a YouTuber.”

This comes after Tyson received a similar warning from a Senior Lecturer in Medicine at Anglia Ruskin University, Stephen Hughes earlier this year.

Hughes highlighted that as ‘Iron Mike is an older man and a recovering alcoholic, then he is at an increased risk of suffering subdural haematoma (brain bleed), which can be fatal.

“In older people, the brain tends to lose volume,” Hughes explained.

“This lengthens the bridging veins and makes them more vulnerable to rupture.

“Bleeding from these torn veins causes a collection of blood that presses on the brain.

“This causes confusion, loss of consciousness, neurological disability and, in some cases, death.

“Alcoholism is known to accelerate brain shrinkage, and it appears that Tyson has this as a past risk factor.”

Hughes also added that Tyson is at a higher risk of several heart conditions including arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), angina (reduced blood flow to heart muscles), and myocardial infarction (heart attack).