Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson has come forward to talk about the health crisis this June that almost claimed his life, barely weeks before his boxing encounter with Jake Paul.
Through X, Tyson made the revelation that he had to go through eight blood transfusions and lost half his blood. All this in the hospital caused him to lose as many as 25 pounds. The 58-year-old explained that things were worse than most people realized, a result of an ulcer flare-up.
Tyson, who lost to Jake Paul via unanimous decision in their Texas fight, expressed no regrets over his decision to get back into the ring after nearly twenty years. “This is one of those situations when you lost but still won… no regrets to get in the ring one last time,” he wrote.
His comments were very different from what he initially said right after the fight, when he teased a possible match-up with Jake’s brother, Logan Paul.
Critics were less gentle with the revamped fighting rules that included shorter rounds and heavier gloves, calling the bout no more than a sparring session glorified. But it still represented Tyson’s first sanctioned fight since 2005, when he lost to Kevin McBride, further solidifying his status as one of boxing’s most iconic figures.