On Saturday, the world will finally get the boxing they’ve been salivating over for years…sort of.
“Iron” Mike Tyson, 54, faces Roy Jones, Jr., 51, in a heavyweight exhibition super fight matchup.
However, the key word here is “exhibition”.
Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. is a week from today.
— Triller paid $50M for media rights
— Tyson & Jones Jr. are GTD $10M each
— Could be $20M+ depending on PPV #'s
— Sponsorships will bring extra $$$
The craziest part?
Check out Mike Tyson at 20 vs 54. pic.twitter.com/YZhMfun0dO
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) November 21, 2020
That means no knockouts, 12-ounce gloves instead of the usual 10-ounce gloves for heavyweight bouts and no scoring.
However, according to Rafael Cordeiro, a longtime MMA and muay Thai coach who was assigned to get Tyson back in shape, Tyson won’t hold back.
Two legends in the ring, they both are going for the finish,” Cordeiro said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “The fight has three judges [sic] and a referee, so it’s a real fight and must have a winner.
It’s no longer an exhibition, someone has to win. We’ll try to win from start to finish. … Mike is not going there for an exhibition, he’s going there to fight.”
In addition, neither fighter will wear headgear. Referee Ray Corona, in the ring with them and is authorized by the California State Athletic Commission to stop the fight whenever he wants.
According to CSAC Director Andy Foster via Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole, Referee Corona is not going to give a count in the event of knockdowns. He will also give the downed fighter as much time as is required to make certain he is safe to continue.
Also, the fight won’t be scored.
Mike Tyson : 1980’s vs. 2020! 🤯
🇺🇸 Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. 🇺🇸
🛎 LIVE This Saturday Night! pic.twitter.com/yuRGIp0ILw— Mikey Thomas (@MikeyThomas1991) November 22, 2020
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has appointed a team of ex-champions to serve as celebrity judges. They include: former WBC champions Vinny Pazienza, Chad Dawson and Hall of Famer Christy Martin.
They won’t score rounds under the 10-point system, but will simply pick a winner. They will also not be on site at Staples but will be watching from a remote location.
"There's no knockouts? They're not allowed to knock each other out?" 🤔
UFC President @danawhite reacting to the rules that will govern Mike Tyson v Roy Jones Jr fight this weekend is gold… 😂 pic.twitter.com/fQqtwxxOsn
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) November 25, 2020
No score will be announced at the end and both guys’ hands will be raised. They will also each be given a belt at the end.
In reality, the fight is a dream gym sparring session that isn’t closed door but open for the world to see for a price.
What is my vision of hard sparring? Well, they’ll be working really hard, but when you hurt the guy, you don’t go in to finish him off,” Foster told Yahoo Sports.
“To me, that’s what hard sparring looks like. It looks like what you’d see in the gym. That’s what I believe an exhibition should look like. It’s not going to be pitty patter out there. I guarantee that. That’s not what I expect these guys to do. They’re good athletes. I would it expect it to look like what it would look like if nobody was around and you walked in when they were sparring with each other at a gym.”
However, the rest of the card will be a normal pay-per-view live from the Staples Center. With bouts featuring former two-weight class world champion, Badou Jack and the debut of former NBA star, Nate Robinson taking on You tuber Jake Logan in a 6 round cruiserweight bout.
