Highlights
- Jake Paul is due to face Mike Tyson at AT&T Stadium in November.
- 'Iron' Mike was forced to withdraw from a planned July bout due to a stomach ulcer flare-up.
- Paul has lined up a former world champion as a replacement for Tyson if he can't fight later this year.
Jake Paul has reportedly lined up a replacement opponent for Mike Tyson in the event that the heavyweight legend is unable to step into the ring for their planned bout on the 15th of November. The pair had been due to do battle at AT&T Stadium later this month, but 'Iron' Mike was forced to withdraw after being diagnosed with stomach ulcers in late May.
'The Problem Child' will still fight on the 20th of July as scheduled, but will face former UFC star Mike Perry, rather than Tyson. Paul's intention is to get past Perry and then move on to his mega-fight with Tyson. However, the social media superstar has reportedly become increasingly concerned that he hasn't seen any evidence of the boxing icon training for their bout.
Paul's business partner, Nakisa Bidarian, appeared on the MMA Hour on Wednesday, where he confirmed that his associate was worried about the situation.
Jake Paul is Reportedly Not Happy With Mike Tyson
"I thought he was supposed to be injured?" Paul asked
"Jake is p***** because he sees he [Tyson] is in Europe, living life, doing appearances, celebrating his birthday and he’s like ‘I thought he was injured, what's going on?’ But I talked to team Tyson yesterday and they said he’s back, not doing boxing training but doing strength and conditioning and he feels great."
Despite the assurances of Team Tyson, there is no getting away from the fact that the veteran is 58 years old - and far from a certainty to be approved to compete by the commission in Texas. Per a report from World Boxing News, former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is ready to step in for the November bout should Tyson pull out.
The 38-year-old hasn't fought since 2021, when he defeated the unheralded David Zegarra, although he is set to tangle with former UFC fighter Uriah Hall on the Paul vs Perry undercard in two weeks. Interestingly, Chavez's latest bout is still considerably more recent than Tyson's last professional contest, which took place all the way back in 2005.
The hope from inside the Paul camp will be that Chavez never has to be called up. Bidarian claimed during Wednesday's interview that some 75,000 people are expected to attend the Paul vs Tyson fight.
Should 'Iron' Mike not appear there would have to be serious questions asked about whether Paul vs Chavez Jr would be a big enough contest to justify being hosted in an NFL stadium.
