MIKE TYSON and Roy Jones Jr weaved and jabbed their way to a draw in their LA exhibition fight — although with a tad less sharpness than in their prime.
The veteran pair performed admirably despite having a combined age of 105, before they both vowed to step into the ring AGAIN after judges tied the fight.
- Mike Tyson vs Roy Jones Jr – DRAW after eight rounds
- Jake Paul BEATS Nate Robinson in brutal knockout (Rd 2 KO)
- Badou Jack BEATS Blake McKernan (points – unanimous)
- Jamaine Ortiz BEATS Nahir Albright (Rd 7 stoppage)
Follow all the reaction to the draw with SunSport’s live blog below…
- MIKE TYSON LATESTDespite drawing against Roy Jones Jr in their exhibition bout, George Foreman believes Mike Tyson has what it takes to become the oldest heavyweight champion in history.He said: “If he gets in shape like he’s in now, gets his timing back, and all the other things fall into place, he can have an opportunity to fight for the title.“If he can be managed right, the right champion will come to him. And if the right one comes, he can knock him out.”Meanwhile, Lennox Lewis said he was concerned about facing Mike Tyson because he looked like King Kong on TV.The British star beat Iron Mike in 2002 , but he wasn’t always so eager on the match-up.When asked if he was apprehensive of The Baddest Man on the Planet, he told the Guardian: “Yes and no.“Yes, because TV made him look like King Kong. But, no, because Manny [Lewis’ legendary trainer Emanuel Steward] always told me Tyson would be my easiest fight.“I’d say: ‘Come on, now! He’s going to be a little difficult.’ But Manny said: ‘No. It’s your easiest fight.”After pitting his wits against Tyson, Jones Jr has insisted that his American compatriot can still mix with the best.He claimed: “I’m happy to scratch it off the bucket list and move on with my life.“He hit harder, his hands hurt, his head hurts [my hands], everything hurt that makes contact.“He’s capable of fighting anybody. If he catches you, you’re going to have problems. I was feeling everything. He’s an exceptional puncher, still.“All it takes is one punch from either one of us for something to happen. He can do anything he wants to do.”
- SON OF A GUNGeorge Foreman believes Mike Tyson can break his own record to become the oldest heavyweight world champion in history.Speaking after his draw against Roy Jones Jr, he told USA Today: “If he gets in shape like he’s in now, gets his timing back, and all the other things fall into place, he can have an opportunity to fight for the title.“If he can be managed right, the right champion will come to him. And if the right one comes, he can knock him out.“Tyson looked great, he really did. And Roy Jones had to use every old skill out of the book to keep himself from being knocked out.“I just couldn’t believe what I saw. And that was just an exhibition. Just think if (Tyson) had some activity the last two years. He’d be in line to be the champion of the world again at 54, 55.“You have to have a really good manager to navigate you who to fight and who not to fight,’ he added. ‘But if he gets someone who can do some creative moves, he can be in the big time quickly.”
- MIKE DROPMike Tyson has criticised Floyd Mayweather’s claims that there are too many belts in boxing.Undefeated champ Mayweather told the World Boxing Organization’s to ‘sort their s*** out’ and accused them of taking extra money from fighters.It came after Tyson, 54, and old foe Roy Jones Jr came out of retirement to fight for the WBC Frontline Battle Belt despite it being an exhibition scrap.Reported by Essentially Sports, he said: “Boxing never has too many belts because every time it’s a championship fight, it’s more money for the fighter.“There’s never enough belts you know? To say there’s one champion and there’s 10 guys, how long will it take for the champion to fight the 10 guys?“Plus they gotta go through each other… It’s good to have three champions because then everybody can get paid… Everybody makes money. That’s what this business is about. Money.”
- NOW LEWIS NOX ON DOOR OF RETURNLennox Lewis admitted he could stage a sensational boxing comeback as he has ‘unfinished business’ with his old heavyweight rival Riddick Bowe.After Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr – with a combined age of 105 – drew in an eight-round exhibition on Saturday night, former world champ Lewis hinted he could be next to return to the ring.The British-born star, 55, told BT Sport: “Sure! I mean, it seems like a lot of fun.“You have to look at Mike Tyson; Mike has been doing a lot of different things like wrestling, he’s been doing acting and he even had his own one-man band show.“So he knows how to entertain people, he knows what to do in these situations.”Lewis KO’d Iron Mike in Memphis in 2002 and retired soon after his TKO win over Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko the following year.
- SPLIFF DECISIONMike Tyson admitted he smoked marijuana before his drawn exhibition fight with Roy Jones Jr.Asked if he did, the 54-year-old replied: “Absolutely, yes. Listen, I can’t stop smoking.“I smoked during fights. I just have to smoke, I’m sorry. I’m a smoker. I smoke everyday. I never stopped smoking.”
- BEST OF FIVEMike Tyson is primed for more exhibition fights despite drawing his bizarre eight-round PPV exhibition showdown with Roy Jones Jr.SunSport looks at his possible options after dusting off the gloves for the first time in 15 years.
- Roy Jones Jr rematch
- Evander Holyfield
- Lennox Lewis
- Shannon Briggs
- Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury
- ‘ANYTHING HE WANTS’Mike Tyson still has the ability ‘to fight anybody’ – including Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury.The 54-year-old returned to the ring and fought out an entertaining eight-round exhibition bout against fellow icon Roy Jones Jr on Saturday.And Jones Jr claims ‘Iron Mike’ can still mix with the best after admitting his body is still feeling the effects of their showdown, which ended in a draw.He said: “I’m happy to scratch it off the bucket list and move on with my life.“He hit harder, his hands hurt, his head hurts [my hands], everything hurt that makes contact.“He’s capable of fighting anybody. If he catches you, you’re going to have problems. I was feeling everything. He’s an exceptional puncher, still.“All it takes is one punch from either one of us for something to happen. He can do anything he wants to do.”
- NOX OUT BLOWLennox Lewis said he was apprehensive of Mike Tyson because he looked like King Kong on TV.The British-born former world heavyweight champ beat Iron Mike in 2002 but wasn’t always so eager on the match-up.When asked if he was apprehensive of The Baddest Man on the Planet, he told the Guardian: “Yes and no.“Yes, because TV made him look like King Kong. But, no, because Manny [Lewis’s legendary trainer Emanuel Steward] always told me Tyson would be my easiest fight.“I’d say: ‘Come on, now! He’s going to be a little difficult.’ But Manny said: ‘No. It’s your easiest fight.”
- TY-MES ARE CHANGINGMike Tyson claimed boxing needs YouTubers like Jake Paul and KSI because ‘UFC was kicking out butt’.Jake Paul KO’d former NBA star Nate Robinson in round two of their undercard fight before Tyson’s comeback draw against Roy Jones Jr.Iron Mike, 54, said: “Well listen, my ego says so many things. “But my reality is, they help boxing so much; boxing owes these YouTube boxers some kind of respect.“They should give them some belts because these guys make boxing alive. Boxing was pretty much a dying sport, UFC was kicking our butt.
“Now we got these YouTube boxers, with 25million views. Boxing is going back thanks to the YouTube boxers.”
- MIKE DROPMike Tyson revealed the psychedelic ‘Toad Venom’ drug helped inspire him to make a boxing comeback at 54.The heavyweight legend fought for the first time in 15 years this past weekend, in an eight-round exhibition against Roy Jones Jr.But before the bizarre draw, Tyson opened up on how taking toad venom played a part in his dramatic body transformation and ring return.He said: “I took the medicine and the medicine told me to get into shape.“It really blew my mind. It told me to come back and start getting in shape.”According to AddictionCenter.com, toad venom is a psychedelic drug made ‘from a rare species of toad native to the Sonoran Desert’.It is said to cause ‘hallucinogenic effects [to] take hold in about five minutes after ingestion, causing a powerful religious-like trip that lasts about an hour’.
- MIKE TYSON LATESTEvander Holyfield is the bookies’ tip to be Mike Tyson’s next opponent after his exhibition draw with Roy Jones Jr split boxing fans about 50-50-something.Former heavyweight king Tyson, 54, claimed “this is better than fighting for championships” while 51-year-old Jones said: “Maybe we can do it again.”But Holyfield is 4/6 favourite and Lennox Lewis 3-1 to step in ahead of Jones.Meanwhile, Tyson admitted he took marijuana before the fight, saying: “Absolutely, yes.“I smoked during fights. I just have to smoke, I’m sorry. I’m a smoker. I smoke every day.I never stopped smoking.” Jones stifled not-always-rusty Iron Mike for most of the eight two-minute rounds, despite Tyson’s glimpses of explosive power.But former four-weight champ Jones said: “The body shots definitely took a toll.“It’s something to take the punches that Mike throws. I’m cool with a draw. Maybe we can do it again.”And Tyson said: “I’m good with that. The crowd was happy with that.”
- AMIR HAPPY TYSON ‘DIDN’T GET HURT’British boxer claims Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr put on a “great performance” – but is just happy both 50-somethings came out of it with their health still intact.
