Mike Tyson says he almost died when he suffered an inflamed ulcer that forced him to pull out of his initial July 20 date for the Jake Paul fight.

Tyson will box Paul on November 15 in his first professional fight since his loss to Kevin McBride in 2005. But there were worries that it would not happen after Tyson’s ulcer flared up during a flight from Miami to Los Angeles. Tyson reportedly passed out, as the onlooking passengers were in horror. He was diagnosed with a bleeding ulcer that can lead to death. He recalled coughing up blood in the bathroom, as well as losing a significant amount of weight. Further struggles included not being able to eat as there were concerns that Tyson would never make the fight. At one point, Tyson admitted that he felt he could have died.

Tyson’s Ordeal

“I asked the doctor, ‘Am I going to die? He said, ‘We have options.’ Options? I couldn’t believe it. I lost 25 pounds in eleven days. I couldn’t eat. Only liquids. Every time I went to the bathroom, it smelled like tar. Didn’t even smell like it. It was disgusting. I had, like, eight blood transfusions. The doctor said I lost half my blood. I almost died. It threw me off. All my coordination, stamina, and everything else were hectic getting back. I was peaked already. I could have fought him that day. Now I got to start from scratch,” Tyson said

But Tyson is not the only one who could suffer in this fight. Paul will bulk up to over 200 pounds for this fight. He is used to fighting boxers moving up in weight, which gives him a significant advantage. He did this against Nate Diaz, beating him via a unanimous decision. Diaz is used to fighting at 170 pounds, but Paul boxes at cruiserweight. Paul also had the advantage over Mike Perry, whom he stopped in the sixth.

Paul’s Challenges

With that being said, there are concerns that the extra weight will slow him down and make him vulnerable. Paul has shown issues with stamina during some of his fights. The fight with Diaz showed that, as he allowed Nate to come back into the bout after initially sending him to the canvas. Paul’s strength and conditioning coach, Larry Wade, revealed the struggles The Problem Child had to go through. So questions remain if this will have an impact on the fight.

“Tyson and Perry are two different styles of fighters, two different styles of training. One where Mike Tyson fights two-minute rounds, and Mike Perry fights three-minute rounds, which is a different kind of conditioning. He had to go back, focus and do some things besides the fact that we had to lose a lot of weight to get there. It definitely required a team effort. I needed a break, so we took a month off, went back to work, and now we’re getting ready for Mike,” Wade added

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