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Mike Tyson is getting back in the ring this summer! The 57-year-old former pro boxer is set to fight 27-year-old Jake Paul in a live-streamed Netflix event, taking place in Texas, on July 20, 2024. And while boxing fans are excited to see “Iron Mike” make his big return, some are concerned about his health due to his age.
Read on about Mike’s health and how he’s doing today as he gears up for his fight against Jake.
Mike Tyson Revealed He Has Sciatica
Fans of the Brooklyn native were shocked to see photos of him in a wheelchair and using a walking stick at a Miami airport in August 2022. That year, Mike revealed that he lives with sciatica, which is a “pain that travels along the path of the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve travels from the buttocks and down each leg,” per Mayo Clinic. “Sciatica most often happens when a herniated disk or an overgrowth of bone puts pressure on the lumbar spine nerve roots.” The condition can cause inflammation, pain and a numbness in a patient due to the nerve pain.
“I have sciatica every now and then, it flares up,” he explained in a Newsmax interview. “When it flares up, I can’t even talk! Thank God it’s the only health problem I have.”
Mike Once Claimed He ‘Broke’ His Back
Apart from his nerve pain, fans also recall that Mike declared that he “broke” his back following his 2002 fight against Lennox Lewis. Nearly 20 years later, Mike clarified in an interview that he’s had a “bad back and since all of the work that I’ve put over the years” and added that his “spine in my back just starts shifting.”
Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul Fight
Mike and Jake are scheduled to duke it out on July 20, 2024, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The fight will air on Netflix for subscribers. Months ahead of the battle, a medical professional explained the health risks that Mike is facing when he goes up against Jake.
“In older people, the brain tends to lose volume,” Stephen Hughes explained via The Conversation. “This lengthens the bridging veins and makes them more vulnerable to rupture. Alcoholism is known to accelerate brain shrinkage, and it appears that Tyson has this as a past risk factor.”
The senior lecturer in medicine at Anglia Ruskin University also pointed out that there are risks to the heart.
How Is Mike Tyson’s Health Now?
In his 2022 television interview, Mike explained that, despite his painful sciatica flare-ups, he is “splendid now,” adding, “Everybody in my house is truly blessed and we’re all very grateful for whatever we have.”