Mike Tyson Returns to Training for Jake Paul Showdown After Overcoming Health Setback
Mike Tyson has resumed training and is expected to return to the boxing gym at the end of the month, his agent told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday.
The former heavyweight champion had been recuperating from an ulcer flareup that postponed his fight with Jake Paul to Nov. 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Tyson, 58, has been doing resistance training and cardio work for the past couple of weeks, said Andrew Ruf, Tyson’s agent. He said Tyson, who suffered the ulcer flareup on May 26, has been under the care of Danny Issa, a gastroenterologist at UCLA.
“Everything is on track,’’ Ruf said. “His doctor over at UCLA, they’ve been monitoring him really closely. They’re super happy with the progress. Everything is kind of full track to get back in there end of July and get working.
“I’ve been told that everything is completely on track and he is on pace to have no limitations at all. His physicians, Dr. Issa in particular, don’t believe there’ll be any limitations at all.’’
Tyson, 58, and Paul, 27, were originally scheduled to fight Saturday. Instead Paul will fight Mike Perry, a former MMA fighter who more recently has thrived as a bareknuckle fighter.
It’s unclear how Paul losing to Perry would affect his fight against Tyson. But Ruf said the decision to fight Perry was made by Paul and Nakisa Bidarian, Paul’s manager, and Tyson supports it.
“Look, everyone is very interested,’’ Ruf said. “And certainly there were a lot of conversations and this was Jake’s and Nakisa’s decision and Mike supports it 100 percent and we’ll see how it plays out. We’ll be watching very intently.’’
Tyson has been training in Las Vegas, where he has a home, and in France, where his daughter Milan has been playing tennis, according to Ruf.
The goal during his more than a month off was to be healthy enough to resume training at full strength.
“So really right now it’s been a focus on getting him back in shape to go do that, which he is,’’ Ruf said. “Health comes first and that’s something that his physicians were very focused on and making sure that he’s in the best position to come back completely 100 percent ready to go. And so that first moment that was the focus was on our camp, to make sure that he would be healthy and ready to go for Jake Paul.’’
