Jake Paul has released a photograph showing the moment he suffered a horror injury that threatened to cancel the year’s biggest fight.
Just weeks before his fight with Mike Tyson as he was winding down training camp, Paul was training in the ring when he went over on his ankle. It was later revealed to be a complete tear and sprain, which would generally see a fighter pull out of their bout.
However, the fight had already been rescheduled once when Tyson suffered an ulcer flare-up, and another rescheduling would likely have spelt the end of the concept. And with a massive Netflix deal and record-breaking attendance hanging in the balance, he opted to fight on.
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Jake Paul suffered horror injury before Mike Tyson fight
As part of his preparations for facing Mike Tyson in November, Jake Paul had to bulk up to heavyweight, having previously competed in the mid-range of cruiserweight throughout his career. He ended up tipping the scales at a whopping 227lb, over 40lb higher than his fight with Tommy Fury.
And ultimately that weight may have played a factor as he was injured during a training session. He has now shared a photo from the moment it happened amongst his highlights of an otherwise impressive 2024.
Speaking after the fight in a press conference, he told media of the incident: “Two weeks ago I sprained my ankle, completely tore the ligament, anterior ligament and like snapped the other side of my foot and was on crutches for four or five days.
“It just hindered the end of my training camp. I don’t know how it didn’t get leaked or anything. I missed about two weeks of sparring and that’s why my cardio didn’t really feel so good tonight.”
Jake Paul fought on and defeated Mike Tyson in controversial fight
Despite the injury, Paul managed to make it to fight night and get through what ended up being a controversial fight. Tyson, at the age of 58, looked every one of those years as he labored towards the final bell.
Paul appeared to ease up on the pressure as the rounds progressed, and the fight ended up a damp squib much to the annoyance of a record viewership that numbered over 100million. He later claimed to have been carrying Tyson instead of pushing for a knockout.
Asked if he had ‘carried’ Tyson, Paul replied: “Yeah, definitely. Definitely a bit. I wanted to give the fans a show, but I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt.”
He also noted that it was hard to make a fight exciting with a man who was clearly struggling to get through the eight rounds, adding: “I tried to give the best fight I possibly could, but when someone’s just surviving in the ring, basically it’s hard to make it exciting.
“So I couldn’t really get him to engage me or slip shots and do something super cool or whatever, but I don’t care about what people have to say. They’re always going to have something to say and that it is what it is.”
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