Mike Tyson insisted he had “no regrets” about getting in the ring “one last time” following his defeat to Jake Paul on Friday night after revealing he “almost died” in June.
The eight-round fight – which took place at the AT&T Stadium in Texas – saw YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul earn victory by unanimous decision, with the 27-year-old scoring a 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73 point win over the 58-year-old former world heavyweight champion.
In June, the bout was rescheduled from its original date of July 20 to November 15 after Tyson was taken ill when he was diagnosed with a flare-up of an ulcer problem.
He reportedly became unwell while aboard a flight from Miami to Los Angeles during May and needed medical assistance.
In a post on X on Saturday, Tyson revealed he “almost died” in June after having eight blood transfusions, but insisted he was still “grateful” for the chance to fight “one last time”.
He said: “This is one of those situations when you lost but still won. I’m grateful for last night. No regrets to get in the ring one last time.
This is one of those situations when you lost but still won. I’m grateful for last night. No regrets to get in ring one last time.
I almost died in June. Had 8 blood transfusions. Lost half my blood and 25lbs in hospital and had to fight to get healthy to fight so I won.
To…
— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) November 16, 2024
“I almost died in June. Had eight blood transfusions. Lost half my blood and 25lbs in hospital and had to fight to get healthy to fight, so I won.
“To have my children see me stand toe-to-toe and finish eight rounds with a talented fighter half my age in front of a packed Dallas Cowboy stadium is an experience that no man has the right to ask for. Thank you.”
Friday’s meeting was Tyson’s first bout in 19 years and saw Paul use his youth and pace to take advantage further into the eight-round fight.
Paul paid tribute to Tyson post-fight, saying: “Mike Tyson, this is such an honour. He’s the greatest to ever do it.
“He is an icon. It was an honour to fight him. He was exactly what I thought he would be.”
Earlier in the evening, the undercard saw Katie Taylor defend her status as undisputed world light-welterweight champion with a unanimous decision victory over Amanda Serrano.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel