Iron Mike Tyson had to delay the fight because of medical issues

Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson

Jake Paul suffered a major set back in one of his life-long dreams to fight Iron Mike Tyson as the 58-year-old steps back from the event on medical grounds, leaving Paul with major problems with the undercard as Netflix is due to announce a new date within the first week of June.

Paul and Tyson would not have been the only boxing royalty on show that night as Ireland’s Katie Taylor was due to take on Amanda Serrano in a rematch on July 20, before the fight was postponed.

It means that Paul will be pressured to fill the void left by Tyson to ensure the event at the AT&T Stadium goes ahead, because Taylor-Serrano, and the other pro boxers deep into their careers, do not have the luxury to wait around on the 58-year-old’s health.

“Jake Paul is in a difficult situation here,” wrote BoxingKingdom14 on X.com, formerly Twitter. “The Mike Tyson fight is being re-scheduled for Q4. The dilemma is the undercard is very expensive and stars like Katie Taylor, can’t just sit out for an extended period of time.

“In addition to that the purses for the under card fighters are huge. And most importantly, no guarantee Mike Tyson can even fight in Q4 given his age and current health. The solution would be Jake Paul fighting 52 year old David Tua.”

Taylor, now aged 37, is approaching the twilight of her career that has seen her only lose once in 24 fights as she holds the undisputed lineal world lightweight championships and the undisputed and lineal super-lightweight championships, meaning time is of the essence for KT.

Likewise, Serrano, aged 35, also does not have a lot of time left in her career before retirement so if she has to wait until the latter stage of 2024 to fight then that’s a lot of time lost as Serrano bids to win back the WBA, WBC, WBO, IBF and The Ring lightweight titles.

Why has Mike Tyson stepped back?

Tyson, due to make his professional comeback, has backed away from his first fight since 2020 and his first pro fight since 2005 on medical grounds, although he insists it’s only a minor set back.

So on doctors’ orders, the fight will be delayed with Most Valuable Promotions and Netflix announcing a new date on June 7 as the fighters agreed they must have an equal time to prepare.

“The recommendation is,” MVP said in a press release. “For Mike Tyson to do minimal to light training over the next few weeks and then return to full training with no limitations.

“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.

“The health and wellbeing of athletes is our top priority, and we fully support Mike in taking the necessary time to allow him to perform at the level he expects of himself.”