Mike Tyson has confirmed that he will fight Roy Jones Jr. on September 12 in California. The event will hold several fights including several MMA fighters against boxers. Furthermore, Jake Paul will box in the co-main event. In sum, this will be one of the biggest events of the year.
It will go down at the Dignity Health Sports Park, the home of the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer club. However, due to the current health crisis, there will be no fans in attendance. But it is still expected to sell bucketloads of pay-per-views. The fight will be available to stream on Triller.
Tyson last fought in 2003, the year Jones won the heavyweight title. Meanwhile, Jones retired in 2018. Both men have been active throughout the lockdown period. First of all, Jones trained with Errol Spence Jr. while Tyson worked with MMA coach Rafael Cordeiro.
Exciting
The exhibition will consist of eight rounds. No headgear will be worn, but they will don 12-ounce gloves instead of the standard eight. In sum, it’s going to be very exciting. Several names were linked to this including Evander Holyfield and Tito Ortiz, but everybody will be pleased with Jones.
I know it’s happening, and I know it’s against the great Mike Tyson, so how can you not be excited?” Jones told The Athletic. “I have to treat it as a real fight because you never know. I’ll be in there with Mike Tyson. Mike’s too big to be playing with. There were a lot of names he could have chosen, but he chose me, so how could I say not? I don’t know a lot of the details yet, but that doesn’t bother me. I just want to fight.”
Fitness
The former champion explained that he knows he is in for a real fight. He saw Tyson’s videos and can see that he is in shape. In short, this is a compelling clash that could sell over one million pay-per-views. It’s also a clash of styles because they fought in very different ways.
“I’ve been highly impressed by what I’ve seen from Mike. From the shape I see, I know he’ll be damn ready and that he’s not going to be playing. I’ve been in shape, but I need to be in better shape now that I know that this is happening.
“I’m going to try and win and know he’ll try to knock me out. If I can knock him out, he’s gotta go, but if I can outbox him, I gotta do whatever s**t I can to win.”
Tyson vs. RJJ promo. No word yet on cost (if there is one). pic.twitter.com/JVQ3IUNspD
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 23, 2020
Technical
Jones says that he wants to dissect Tyson when they fight. Renowned for his intelligence in the ring, he was able to take apart many power punchers. But will he be able to handle the power and pressure of Tyson? These two men are in their fifties so fitness will definitely be a priority. If Jones wants to move around, he must focus on his cardio or he’ll gas out very quickly.
“I’d rather do it that way, to show I can still do that. The point of boxing is to outbox him,” explained Jones.
We’ll see. As one famous boxer said: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the head.”
