Jake Paul has opened up about his heartbreak when boxing icon Mike Tyson had to postpone his highly anticipated fight. The YouTube sensation was preparing to face Tyson in July, but the legendary heavyweight fighter suffered a flare-up of ulcers during the flight, causing a four-month delay.

Tyson, who was hospitalized and diagnosed with a significant bleeding ulcer, was advised to stop training and postpone the fight to November 15. Now, with the rescheduled fight looming, the pair are set to fight in Texas in front of a potential crowd of 80,000.

Paul, who boasts 10 wins in 11 fights, confessed his disappointment in the Netflix documentary. “When I received the news that he wasn’t on the team and wasn’t able to fight, I was just numb and thought: ‘f**k…’,” he lamented.

“I’m the type of person who likes a schedule and likes to know what I’m doing. It just decided I couldn’t do anything, it was out of my control.”

He added: “Nobody can tell Mike Tyson what to do and if he wants to fight me, of course I will say yes. This is the chance of a lifetime to fight one of the two most celebrated boxers of all time; Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson I see Mike Tyson as a killer, so I never expected something like this.

Paul faced bare-knuckle fighter and former UFC challenger Mike Perry on the day originally scheduled for his fight with Tyson and was victorious in the sixth round.

He stated: “At the end of the day, the Mike Tyson fight is great, but I have a goal to become world champion and I won’t ponderous it down for anyone.”

Tyson last appeared in the ring four years ago when he drew with boxing icon Roy Jones Jr in an exhibition match he largely controlled.

Paul also performed that night, delivering a second-round knockout punch to the NBA’s Nate Robinson. The upcoming fight between Tyson and Paul will be officially recorded and will consist of two eight-minute rounds in which the fighters will wear 14-ounce gloves.

It marks Tyson’s return to professional boxing since retiring midway through his fight with Kevin McBride nearly two decades ago.

Kevin McBride pulled off one of the biggest upsets in fighting history when he defeated Mike Tyson, but he traded the excitement of boxing for the peace of mind that comes with tree surgery. The Irishman has also had to overcome some significant demons in the twenty years since he celebrated the biggest result of his career.

Tyson, who is scheduled to retire and face Jake Paul on November 15, was unable to appear in the seventh round of their 2005 fight and retired from the sport shortly thereafter. While one might assume that such a triumph would pave the way to sporting immortality, the man known as the “Clone Colossus” has now focused on more humble pursuits.

“I’m working with a tree surgeon now,” McBride revealed Daily mail (By Mirror) in 2020. “He tells me to knock down trees, shovel snow, shout “wood” and so on. That’s good. It keeps me busy. My job is to pick things up and put them down.”

The 51-year-old former heavyweight is now enjoying a simpler life after basking in the Sweet Science spotlight. Living with his family in Boston, McBride is a content person, although his journey to a humble life has involved some adversity.

He struggled with alcohol addiction after losing six in eight fights following Tyson’s upset, eventually hanging up the gloves in 2011. Discussing his battle with alcohol, McBride described it as a “bigger fight” than any other he has faced in the ring.

“It’s difficult to believe so much time has passed,” said the Co. Monaghan man, recalling the peak of his boxing days. “It’s coming up more and more at the moment because every time they talk about it [Tyson] when I come back they say I was the last one to defeat him.

“I like it. I don’t sit back and watch the fight again, but someone recently posted a clip on Facebook and I saw it – a dream come true, right?”

It’s difficult to argue with the logic of a man from a miniature town of less than 2,000 people. McBride rose to the top of boxing before falling precipitously, but his legacy remains intact.

Tyson is scheduled to return to fight “The Problem Child” Paul in Arlington, Texas later this month. Nearly 20 years after his last professional test, he aims to improve on an already illustrious legacy and, in a sense, take revenge for his surprise defeat to McBride by ending his boxing days on a happier note.

Imane Khelif, the boxer embroiled in a contentious gender qualification dispute, intends to approach the media through legal channels after her alleged medical documents appeared in the press, as confirmed by the International Olympic Committee.

This week, French media published reports alleging that the 25-year-old boasts XY (male) chromosomes.

The boxer won welterweight gold at the Paris Games amid cries of controversy when the International Boxing Association said Algerian-born Khelif had been excluded from last year’s World Championships for failing to meet eligibility requirements because of his gender.

In her first bout on Paris soil, Khelif defeated Italian opponent Angela Carini, who bowed out just 46 seconds into the match, expressing that she had “never felt a blow like that.”

In the wake of the violent backlash and online harassment during the Olympics, Khelif filed a formal complaint with French law enforcement, and on Wednesday the IOC revealed it is now opposing up-to-date allegations raised by recent French journalists.

Moreover, the IOC expressed deep concern about the spate of abuse against Khelif following her Olympic Games in Paris.

An IOC spokesman noted: “We understand that Imane Khelif has taken legal action against people who commented on her situation during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and is preparing a lawsuit in response to the latest reports.

“The IOC will not comment on legal proceedings or media reports of unverified documents whose origin cannot be confirmed.”

In a revealing statement, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stressed that boxer Khelif has been actively involved in women’s boxing “for many years”, taking part in events including: at the previous Tokyo Games and those sanctioned by the International Boxing Association (IBA).

The IBA was indeed stripped of Olympic recognition due to management failures last year. As a result, it was the IOC itself that oversaw and set admission standards for the Olympic boxing competitions in Paris.

The IOC further clarified: “All athletes who took part in the boxing tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games complied with the qualification and entry requirements for the competition, as well as all applicable medical regulations issued by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU).”

The organization explained that, as with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age classification was based on details contained in the athlete’s passport.

The IOC also noted that these rules were consistently applied throughout the qualifying stage.

Concluding the statement, they said: “The IOC is committed to protecting the human rights of all athletes who have participated in the Olympic Games, in accordance with the Olympic Charter, the IOC Code of Ethics and the IOC Strategic Framework for Human Rights. The IOC is saddened by the abuse that Imane Khelif is currently suffering.”

After winning the gold medal, Khelif firmly stated: “I am fully qualified to compete in this competition. I am a woman.”

She confirmed: “I was born a woman, I lived as a woman and I competed as a woman. There is no doubt that there are enemies of success and this gives my success a special flavor because of these attacks.”