Tyson predicts ‘full-blooded’ fight vs Jones

CEBU, Philippines —  ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson (50-6, 44KOs) once again rebuffed the notion that his eight-round exhibition bout with fellow heavyweight boxing legend Roy Jones, Jr. (66-9, 47KOs) scheduled this Sunday without spectators at the Staples Center in Los Angeles is merely a show and a “circus act”.

Tyson, 54, vowed that he would bear no trace of a man who was pounded into seventh round submission by Irish journeyman Kevin McBride in his last fight on June 11, 2005 at the MCI Center in Washington.

Tyson, who reigned as the youngest heavyweight world champion at 20 years old during his prime, 

even predicted a “full-blooded contest” against Jones, a former four-division world titleholder who holds a record of his own as the only boxer to debut as a middleweight and went on to become a heavyweight king.

“I think Roy can handle getting slapped around a little bit,” Tyson said in a report by Agence France Presse. “It’s going to be really hot in that kitchen.”

While Tyson is due to see action for the first time in 15 years, the 51-year-old Jones previously fought on February 8, 2018 in his hometown Pensacola, Florida, beating Scott Sigmon by unanimous decision to grab the World Boxing Union (German version) cruiserweight belt.

The Tyson-Jones showdown, however, will have no official winner as there are no judges from the California State Athletic Commission who will be working on the match.

“There’s no official judges. That’s a very entertainment centered thing. It’s about entertainment. It’s not about competition,” CSAC executive director Andy Foster said. “The unofficial scores are for entertainment only and that’s done by the WBC remotely. Not by the commission cause the commission didn’t credential those judges because of COVID. It’s for entertainment purposes only. There’s no official winner at the end of this.”