Mike Tyson returns to professional boxing 19 years after his last fight. There are neurological concerns for the 58-year-old

CNN
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Mike Tyson enters the ring. His youthful appearance belies the power he possesses.

It’s 1985 and the heavyweight is about to make his professional boxing debut. One minute and 47 seconds later and an 18-year-old Tyson has already forced his opponent, Hector Mercedes, to retire after a series of devastating blows to his body and head.

It was the beginning of a formidable career in the ring for Tyson, filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Now, 39 years later, “Iron Mike” will step back into the ring at the age of 58.

On Friday, Tyson will put on his gloves again for a pro fight against 27-year-old YouTuber Jake Paul at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, more than 7,000 days since his last professional outing.

His last professional fight came in a loss to Kevin McBride more than 19 years ago, and his last exhibition fight was four years ago when Paul coincidentally fought in just his second professional fight on the undercard of that very event.

The pair were originally scheduled to fight in July of this year, although the fight was postponed when Tyson experienced a wound that flared up.

Competing at the highest level presents challenges as athletes age, with physical and mental fitness harder to regain. But in a sport like boxing, it also presents challenges neurologically.

Since his entire professional life has been based on getting hit in the head, Tyson may be at a higher risk of neurological damage when he steps back into the ring, according to Dr. Nitin K Sethi – Clinical Associate Professor of Neurology at Weill Cornell Medical College.

In particular, boxing commissions often categorize fighters as being at a “high risk” of sustaining further injuries if they fight over the age of 40.

“When you talk about fighters who are now over 40, you worry about two things,” Sethi, who also works as a ringside doctor, told CNN. “First of all, I worry about the fights in the ring itself, because is that fighter more predisposed to suffer a severe traumatic brain injury under my watch while in the ring because of his or her age?

“The other thing I worry about is that this is a fighter who has had many, many years of professional boxing under his belt. You worry about the chronic neurological injuries.”

CNN has reached out to Tyson to offer him the chance to comment on any potential health issues he may have ahead of the fight against Paul.

As Sethi explains, boxing is “unique”. The concept of a sport where the goal is to hit the opponent – ​​primarily in the head – and cause a knockout means that boxing comes with very specific health concerns.

Sethi, in his role as a ringside doctor, where he is used to assessing the fitness of the fighters in the ring, sees firsthand the regularity with which concussions occur in boxing. He says that if he steps in and stops a fight every time he sees a boxer showing concussion-like symptoms, “there will be no boxing at all.”

But the true danger of the sport doesn’t just come from the big, explosive knockouts that get fans on their feet. Long-term consequences can stem from the repeated blows to the head boxers are subjected to throughout a match and during the training process.

“When you have someone whose profession is receiving numerous head impacts — both during training, sparring and when you’re in the ring — those head injuries and head impacts count,” Sethi said. “That’s why when you talk about chronic neurological injuries in boxing, I personally feel that’s the biggest problem.”

But unlike knockouts and obvious concussion signs, the cumulative effect of these long-term blows only shows up after the “bright lights aren’t shining on them so nobody cares,” Sethi explained.

Boxers can develop symptoms or conditions such as inability to sleep, chronic dizziness, chronic post-concussion symptoms, chronic Parkinson’s signs and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) long after they retire.

But Sethi believes equal emphasis should be placed on the impact repeated blows to the head can have on a boxer’s brain over the course of their career, and learning how to protect them from long-term neurological problems.

And being susceptible to neurological complications only increases with age.

For example, the New York State Athletic Commission’s medical standards manual lists several factors that can categorize boxers as “high-risk combatants”, such as if they are over the age of 40 and have had over a year of inactivity after the start of their professional career, among other.

Plenty of boxers have continued to fight past the age of 40, with legends like Sugar Ray Robinson, George Foreman, Evander Holyfield and Larry Holmes all fighting beyond that point.

“The reason 40 is used as a cutoff is because there’s been a concern that when you have older fighters into the ring or the cage, they’re more susceptible to either getting hurt or, for example, an older brain handling a concussion less (good) than, say, a younger brain,” explains Sethi.

“You can look at it both ways. One is, what is the propensity for them to get injured. And then, even if they do suffer the injury, is age itself detrimental to the healing process? ”

Tyson falls into both of these categories, as he is set to fight at the age of 58 and has not fought professionally since 2005.

According to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) – the commission that has authorized the professional fight – boxers over the age of 36 must submit recent electroencephalogram or electrocardiogram test results – measuring brain and heart activity – prior to a fight.

TDLR told CNN that test results “must be favorable for (fighters) to be cleared to compete.”

TDLR told CNN it had approved a professional fight between Tyson and Paul with certain waivers, meaning the fight will last eight rounds, with each round lasting two minutes and both boxers wearing 14-ounce gloves.

Brain injuries in boxing are not a recent phenomenon.

Even as far back as 1928, they were studied in the sport, when American scientist Harrison Martland described boxers as being “punch drunk” when showing concussion symptoms, while other terms to describe a fighter’s neurological state after a major contest include dementia pugilistica and swallow nutty.

Besides additional neurological tests performed on fighters during their careers, Sethi believes there is still much more that can be done to protect fighters and prevent long-term neurological damage.

“A lot of change in boxing has to come from the boxers themselves, their families, the retired boxers, they have to say, ‘Make the sport safer for us,'” he said. “The culture of boxing is such that no one ever says, ‘No fuss (no more).’

“No boxer is ever going to say, ‘I’ve had enough. I’m quitting.’ And I always say, ‘It can’t hurt to say no fuss.’ There will be days when you step into the ring and it’s not your day and you decide, ‘Okay, fine. I don’t think I can go on with this boxing.’

For all its obvious health risks, boxing has met with opposition, including some medical associations World Medical Association – around the world have taken it upon themselves to call for a total ban on boxing.

But despite these calls, it is still one of the most popular sports in the world, for obvious reasons. The explosive nature of the sport, the stories and the colorful personalities make it must-see TV at times.

Tyson has brought all of that to boxing during his long and often controversial career, but when he steps into the ring on Friday, the neurological impact he could feel may outweigh the positives.