The former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson suffered an apparent medical scare on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles on Sunday. The incident came in the run-up to a scheduled July bout between the 57-year-old and the YouTuber turned fighter Jake Paul in Dallas.
According to In Touch Weekly, passengers heard an announcement asking for medical professionals roughly 30 minutes before the plane landed in LA. Passengers were reportedly delayed from disembarking for 25 minutes after the flight landed so paramedics could attend to Tyson.
“Thankfully Mr Tyson is doing great,” Tyson’s representatives told the New York Post in an email on Monday. “He became nauseous and dizzy due to an ulcer flare up 30 minutes before landing. He is appreciative to the medical staff that were there to help him.”
Tyson’s representatives also denied that the flight had been delayed due to Tyson’s health issue.
“It’s false reporting that his medical attention caused the flight delay,” the representatives said. “This two-hour delay was due to an air conditioning issue on the aircraft.”
Tyson’s fight against 27-year-old Paul is listed by the Texas department of licensing and regulations as a heavyweight bout. Tyson said last month that he was forgoing sex and marijuana in preparation for the bout.
“Two and a half weeks I haven’t smoked, I haven’t had sex for two and a half weeks,” Tyson, who will turn 58 this month, said on The Damon Elliott Show.
Paul, who rose to fame as a YouTube prankster but has developed a lucrative career as a surprisingly competent, if limited, boxer, boasted that he will end Tyson’s fight career during the Netflix-streamed contest.
“Mike will be put to sleep and he will feel my power,” he said. “I will go down as the man who put Tyson to sleep for the last time.”
At his peak, Tyson was the most destructive heavyweight champion of all time, known for his brutal knockout power. His last fight – an exhibition – ended in a draw against another former world champion, Roy Jones Jr, in 2020. Paul fought on the undercard of that bout, knocking out the former NBA star Nate Robinson. Tyson’s last official fight was in 2005, a loss to the Irish journeyman Kevin McBride.