Mike Tyson has ventured off on a national press tour to begin promoting his exhibition match versus Roy Jones Jr. on Triller pay per view.
He joined The Dan Patrick Show last week to amp up his eight-round scrap and explain how the Jones Jr. bout will play out.
“An exhibition means two people are fighting, and it’s not called a fight,” said Tyson.
Patrick asked: “But it’s real?”
“Pretty much, yeah. We’re throwing punches at each other,” Tyson responded. “This is going to be my definition of fun — broken eye sockets, broken jaw, broken rib. That’s fun to me.”
California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster told BoxingScene.com last month that if the fight heats up, referee Ray Corona’s job will be to cool the action without having to kill the whole thing.
“I wanted to have their assurances that they understand, ‘I don’t care if they spar. I don’t care if they work.’ They are world-class athletes, even still,” said Foster. “They have a right to earn, and all these types of things. They’re about the same age. We can’t mislead the public as to this is some kind of real fight. They can get into it a little bit, but I don’t want people to get hurt. They know the deal.”
Regardless of the level of competition it might be, Tyson is interested in pulling off more of these showcases as part of his new venture Legends Only League. In the meantime, the originally announced date of Sept. 12 for the Jones Jr. showdown has reportedly been moved to Nov. 28.
Tyson said he’s in a better state of mind now at the age of 54 than when he last fought as a professional in 2005, a loss to the unheralded Kevin McBride.
“I didn’t really train [for McBride]. I wasn’t excited for that fight. It was a bill-playing, mundane day at the office,” said Tyson.
Tyson also didn’t rule out a potential meeting with Evander Holyfield, who was once considered a clubhouse leader to land the exhibition match as Tyson’s opponent.
“[Holyfield is] on the table, but I guess the people wanted Roy,” said Tyson.
Tyson did not limit his opponent options to only retired greats. He also said he’s willing to mix it up with WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
“[Fury is] a possibility. For what charity? Yeah. How many charities can we help? I’ll fight him,” said Tyson. “I’ll fight anybody for that. It’s not based on money — the money is only based on what we can do with it.”
“I never thought about [coming out of retirement and fighting for real]. But this is fun. Let’s see how many people and charities we can help out. Let’s see how long I can be around and hold up. This stuff feels pretty good. I feel pretty good. I’m ready …I hope this thing turns out the way I anticipate it will.”
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist and member of the Boxing Writers Assn. of America since 2011. He has written for the likes of the LA Times, Guardian, USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, Men’s Health and NFL.com. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan or via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com.