A doctor has given their professional opinion on Mike Tyson's upcoming fight with Jake Paul, and it's not good for fans of the heavyweight champion.
Nearly 40 years after winning his first heavyweight boxing title, Tyson will return to the ring on Friday night to face controversial YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul at the AT&T Stadium in Texas, with the event set to be streamed exclusively on Netflix.
The fight was initially scheduled to take place on July 20 but was postponed after the 58-year-old boxer suffered a medical emergency and was forced to stop training due to an ulcer flare up.
Ahead of the re-arranged fight, there have been several concerns over Tyson's health going into the event, and one professional doctor has provided a worrying update just hours before the fight is set to begin.
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Although Tyson has passed all of the mandatory medical tests ahead of the fight, including a heart and brain scan, Dr. Julia Iafrate, a sports medicine physician at NYU Langone Orthopaedics, is not convinced that the fight is safe for Tyson.
“We acknowledge that he is a specimen of athletic prowess,” Dr. Iafrate, told The Post.
“That being said, he is 58. As we age, our speed typically slows down. Our agility typically slows down. Our power is probably one of the things that we can typically maintain for a while.
"He is going to need to utilise and really rely on his smarts and his power more than speed and agility.
“The other thing is that our brains lose water weight or water mass as we age, our brains technically get smaller and our sculls stay the same size.
"What can happen is if somebody gets punched in the head as they get older, they are at higher risk for brain injury and higher risk for haematomas or subdural haemorrhages or brain bleeds because that brain is able to slosh around in the skull more easily than it would have when they were younger.
"Our brain is not as malleable as it was when we were younger. There is potential danger there.”
Despite Iafrate's warnings, Tyson and the medical officials involved with the event are convinced that the former heavyweight champion is prepared to enter the ring once again on Friday night.
How to watch Paul vs Tyson if you don't have Netflix
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Topics: Boxing, Mike Tyson, Jake Paul
Ben McCrum