Mike Tyson returns to professional boxing 19 years after his last fight amid concerns over his neurological health

(CNN)- Mike Tyson enters the ring. His youthful appearance hides the power he possesses.

It is 1985, and the heavyweight is about to debut in professional boxing. After one minute and 47 seconds, the 18-year-old has already forced his opponent Hector Mercedes to retreat after delivering devastating blows to the body and head.

This was the beginning of a difficult career full of ups and downs for Tyson. Now, 39 years later, “Iron Mike” will return to the ring at the age of 58.

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

His last professional fight was 19 years ago, when he lost to Kevin McBride, and his last exhibition fight was four years ago, when, coincidentally, Paul was fighting in his second professional fight on the undercard of the same event.

The fight was initially scheduled for July this year, but was postponed when Tyson’s ulcer problems worsened.

Competing at the highest level comes with challenges as athletes age and physical and mental fitness becomes more difficult to achieve. But in a sport like boxing, it also presents neurological challenges.

According to Dr. Nitin K. Sethi, associate professor of neurology at Weill Cornell Medical College, since his entire professional life has been based on taking hits to the head, Tyson may be at greater risk of neurological damage upon returning to the ring.

In particular, boxing commissions often classify fighters over the age of 40 as “high risk” for further injuries.

“When you talk about boxers over 40, you’re concerned about two things,” Sethi, who also serves as a ringside doctor, told CNN. He said, “One, I am concerned that the boxer is more likely to suffer a serious traumatic brain injury in the ring because of his age.” “The other thing that concerns me is that this is a fighter who has spent many years boxing professionally. You’re worried about chronic neurological damage.”

CNN has contacted Tyson for an opportunity to comment on any health concerns ahead of the fight against Paul.

As Sethi explains, boxing is “unique”. The concept of a sport in which the goal is to hit the opponent, primarily in the head, and knockout carries specific health risks.

Sethi, in his role as ringside doctor, where he evaluates the fitness of fighters, sees firsthand the frequency of injuries in boxing. He says that if he stopped a fight every time a boxer showed signs of injury, “there would be no boxing at all.”

But the real danger in boxing doesn’t just come from explosive knockouts that thrill fans. The repeated blows to the head that boxers receive during fights and during training can have long-term consequences.

“When you have someone whose profession involves taking a lot of blows to the head, both in training and in the ring, those blows add up,” Sethi said. “So when you talk about chronic neurological injuries in boxing, I personally think that’s the biggest problem.”

However, unlike knockouts and obvious signs of concussion, the cumulative effect of these blows only becomes visible later, when “the light is no longer on them, no one cares,” Sethi explained.

Boxers can develop symptoms such as insomnia, chronic dizziness, chronic post-concussion symptoms, chronic Parkinson’s symptoms, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) long after they retire.

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But Sethi believes equal attention should be paid to the effects of repeated blows to the head during a boxer’s career and how to protect them from long-term neurological problems.

Susceptibility to neurological complications only increases with age.

For example, the New York State Athletic Commission’s Medical Standards Manual lists several factors that may classify boxers as “high-risk fighters”, such as being over the age of 40 and not at the beginning of their professional careers. After more than one year of inactivity. ,

Many boxers have continued to fight past the age of 40, including legends such as Sugar Ray Robinson, George Foreman, Evander Holyfield, and Larry Holmes.

“40 is used as the limit because of the concern that when you have older boxers in the ring they will be more likely to get injured,” Sethi explained. “An aging brain handles trauma less efficiently than a young brain.”

Tyson meets both conditions, as he will be fighting 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 authorized the fight, boxers over the age of 36 must submit recent electroencephalogram or electrocardiogram results in the period prior to the fight.

TDLR told CNN that the results of the trial “must be favorable to be approved for competition.”

He also said he would approve a professional fight between Tyson and Paul with a few exceptions, meaning the fight would last eight rounds of two minutes each, and both boxers would wear 14-ounce gloves.

Brain injuries in boxing are not a recent phenomenon.

As early as 1928, American scientist Harrison Martland described boxers as “punch drunk” when they showed symptoms of concussion, and other terms to describe a fighter’s neurological condition include dementia pugilistica. .

In addition to additional neurological testing, Sethi believes there is still much to be done to protect boxers and prevent long-term neurological damage.

“Many of the changes in boxing must come from the boxers themselves, their families and retired boxers; They should say: ‘Make the game safe for us,'” he said. “The culture of boxing is such that no one ever says, ‘No more.'”

“A boxer will never say, ‘I’ve been through enough. I am going.’ And I always say, ‘There’s nothing wrong with saying no anymore.’ There will be days when you get in the ring and it’s not your day and you decide, ‘Okay. I don’t think I can continue this boxing.

Despite its obvious health risks, boxing remains one of the most popular sports in the world, and Tyson has contributed to that popularity during his long and often controversial career. However, when he steps into the ring this Friday, the neurological effects he will experience may outweigh the benefits.