Mike Tyson is stepping back into the ring at age 54. George Foreman is another heavyweight champion who mounted a comeback during his boxing days. Foreman said he is looking forward to seeing Tyson’s bout with retired champ Roy Jones Jr., but he also said he never wanted any part of Tyson in the ring.

Mike Tyson coming out of retirement Sept. 12

After months of speculation and several rumored opponents, Mike Tyson is getting back into the boxing ring. Videos surfaced of Tyson, then 53, working out, one which even had the caption, “I’m back.” He’s finally getting back into action Sept. 12 when he fights another former heavyweight champion, Roy Jones Jr.

Tyson, who recently turned 54, looks to still be in great shape. He said he’s getting back into boxing because he’s still able to. “It’s because I can do it,” Tyson said in a recent ESPN article. “And I believe other people believe they can do it, too. Just because we are 54, it doesn’t mean that we have to start a new career and our lives are totally over. Not when you feel as beautiful as I do, and I’m sure that other people feel the same way.”

Jones Jr., 51, was also a feared boxer in his day. He compiled a record of 66-9. “I’ve been trying to enjoy retirement, but people don’t seem to want to let me retire,” Jones said to ESPN. “They keep calling me, telling me that Mike wants to come back and that you’d be a great opponent for Mike. We always wanted to see it, but I would’ve preferred it back then.”

Foreman said boxing at 50 isn’t the same as boxing at 20

George Foreman said he is looking forward to watching Mike Tyson return to the ring. He said he is excited Tyson and Roy Jones Jr., two men in their 50s, go at it. He did express some concern about their health, saying he hopes they don’t hit each other.

“In my younger days, you get hit in the head, you shake it off and you come back,” Foreman said to TMZ Sports. “Whereas, when you get older and you get hit, it stays there for a month. You shake it off and the next time, it stays there for a year. It’s gotta be a fun thing and I hope one does not hit the other.”

Foreman said he doesn’t believe the two fighters know what they are getting into. “They just don’t know,” he said. “They just don’t know. I used to have a baby lion and a baby tiger. And my friend would get in a cage with about a dozen tigers and one lion. I went in the cage and was playing with them. When I came out one friend said, ‘Boy, George you sure are brave’ and another said, ‘George just don’t know.’ Boy, you don’t know until they hit you. Strange things happen to you after years go by.”

George Foreman wanted no part of Tyson in the ring

In an interview with ESPN’s Max Kellerman in 2019, George Foreman said he never wanted any part of Mike Tyson in the ring. It also seems that Tyson didn’t want any part of Foreman, either.

“I called him Mike “Nightmare” Tyson,” Foreman told Kellerman. “That guy was a nightmare in the ring. I mean, really, if he missed you with his left and then missed you with his right, he’d bite you and I didn’t want to have anything to do with that guy. I didn’t want him.”

Kellerman then asked Foreman if he thought Tyson wanted him. “No way,” Foreman answered. “I could really punch and I was an expert at punching down. I really learned to develop power for punching guys who were down low. He was smart enough to understand that.”