After the heavyweight boxing match on November 15, Mike Tyson and Jake Paul were forced to rest for at least a month due to health reasons.

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation requires fighters to rest after fights to ensure their health and safety. In most combat sports, fighters must rest for at least seven days.

The rules also state that this rest period will be added with three days for each round the boxers fight. If there is a knockout, Tyson or Paul will have to rest for an additional 60 days.

“A fighter’s disqualification is for his or her own safety and may be done upon the recommendation of a physician or the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation,” the regulations state. “A fighter who does not agree to a medical suspension, or a rest period ordered by a physician, or by regulation, may request a hearing to determine his or her fitness to compete.”

According to British newspaper Sportmail , this may be the reason why Paul did not continue to attack and deliver strong blows to knock out Tyson, despite dominating most of the match at the AT&T Arena, Texas on October 15.

With the advantage of being 31 years younger, Paul started cautiously, gradually gaining the upper hand and continuously scoring with punches to the stomach, when Tyson was out of breath. Over eight rounds, the American Youtuber threw 278 punches, with 78 of them landing – a rate of 28%, and had 179 jabs, landing 31 times.

Tyson , 58, landed only 18 accurate punches, four of which were to Paul’s abdomen. The heavyweight legend even had trouble standing in the final rounds and was unable to land accurate punches. In the end, Paul was awarded the victory by a score of 80-72, 79-73, 79-73.

This is Tyson’s first time in the ring since his exhibition match with Roy Jones Jr. on November 28, 2020. At that time, both were declared to a draw and received a special belt called “Frontline Battle” awarded by the WBC. In his professional career, “Iron Mike” lost six and won 50 matches, including 44 knockout victories.

Coach Rafael Cordeiro said Tyson had trained hard for the past seven months and was confident of winning. “Tyson never wanted to give up,” he said. “We are proud of Tyson for putting aside his personal life to train for the past seven months. Tyson has inspired many people outside the ring. The most important thing is that Tyson will return home to his loved ones.”

Key events of the Mike Tyson – Jake Paul match

The three-decade age gap between Tyson and Paul is the largest in professional boxing history, making the November 15th bout controversial .

YouTuber KSI – who fought Jake Paul’s brother Logan Paul in 2019 – criticized the fight as “elder abuse”. Dillon Danis, who also fought Logan Paul last year, criticized Jake. He wrote: “Jake is going to fight someone born in 1966. Shame on you.”

Former UFC champion Michael Bisping commented: “Jake should be ashamed of himself. And the biggest joke is that he doesn’t even know why.” Famous boxing promoter and manager Eddie Hearn said he was “really sad” to see Tyson return, while Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez insisted he had no interest in the fight.