Mike Tyson, 58, is returning to the ring to take on YouTuber Paul

INN/Los Angeles, @Infodeaofficial

The 58-year-old Mike Tyson will return to the ring on Friday for a fight supported by Netflix that has received harsh criticism from the boxing community, nearly 40 years after he made his professional debut and 19 years after he was beaten into retirement.

Tyson is putting on his gloves again to face YouTuber Jake Paul, 27, in an officially sanctioned bout at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, in Arlington, Texas. Tyson terrorised the heavyweight division during his imperious reign in the late 1980s.

Originally scheduled for July, the bout was postponed in May after Tyson needed medical attention on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles after vomiting blood because of a bleeding ulcer. The bout will consist of eight two-minute rounds.

The graphic mid-air incident has given the many critics who have denounced Friday’s fight as a gruesome circus act that puts Tyson at intolerable risk. Tyson last appeared in a professional ring in 2005, when he lost to Irish journeyman Kevin McBride via technical knockout after quitting on his stool.