Roy Jones Jr. Fires a Warning at Mike Tyson Regarding Upcoming Fight
So what’s the deal about the Mike Tyson comeback fight against Roy Jones Jr. scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend? It’s labeled an ‘exhibition’ but does that mean it’s for entertainment purposes only or are the fighters looking for knockouts? The fight already has Jones Jr. fired up after it was moved from Sept. 12 to Nov. 28. Now Jones has fired a warning directly at Mike Tyson.
Roy Jones Jr. irked by the postponement of the fight
It’s billed as the Mike Tyson comeback. It’s also a comeback for Roy Jones Jr. The former boxing champions were scheduled to meet last month, but promoters pushed the fight to Thanksgiving weekend, hoping to lure in a bigger pay-per-view audience. That moved didn’t sit well with Jones. Jr.
Jones Jr. said the postponement benefits Tyson. “Having it September 12 was to my advantage,” Jones Jr. said recently in an interview with Fight Hub TV. “He’s a bigger guy. It’s going to take him longer to get in shape and it’s going to take him longer to get his mind right. He hasn’t been active since, like 2009 or something. I fought in 2018.
“In six weeks, I was right back in gear. He wasn’t going to have time to get back in gear. Now, you’re allowing him to go get in real shape. Now he’s going to be a problem for more than one or two rounds. With this much time, you allow him to be a real threat.”
Jones Jr. once said he may have made a mistake fighting Tyson
With Mike Tyson in the ring, anything can happen. The big question is will be it an all-out brawl or just a fun boxing match? When Tyson went on the Dan Patrick Show in August, he said his definition of fun might be different that what others perceive as fun. “We’re throwing punches at each other. This is going to be my definition of fun … broken eye sockets, broken jaw, broken rib. That’s fun to me,” Tyson said.
Roy Jones Jr. told Sky Sports that he may have made a mistake agreeing to get in the ring with him. “He’s still Mike Tyson, he’s still one of the strongest, most explosive people who ever touched a boxing ring,” Jones said. “If anything, I made a mistake going in with him. He’s the bigger guy, he’s the explosive guy. He’s going to have all the first-round fireworks, not me. I do have first-round fireworks, but he’s known for more first-round fireworks than anybody to ever touch boxing, other than maybe George Foreman. With him having the first-round fireworks, he’ll be against a guy smaller than him, maybe 40-50 pounds smaller than him.”
California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster told BoxingScene.com that he met with both boxers to stress it was an exhibition bout. “It’s an exhibition,” Foster said. “They can exhibit their boxing skills, but I don’t want them using their best efforts to hurt each other. They’re going to spar hard, but they shouldn’t be going for a knockout. This isn’t a record-book type of fight. This is not world-championship boxing right now. It’s not what this is. People shouldn’t be getting knocked out. The public can see what kind of shape Roy and Mike are still in.”
Roy Jones Jr. fires a warning at Mike Tyson
No matter how Mike Tyson approaches this fight, Roy Jones Jr. says he’ll be ready. He knows Mike Tyson already had one ‘exhibition’ fight and didn’t seem to play by the rules. Jones Jr. warned Tyson what would happen if he didn’t play by the rules. “He had an exhibition with Corey Sanders back in 2004, I think,” Jones Jr. said to Fight Hub TV. “Very first round, he dropped Corey Sanders.
“Know what that’s called? Know what it’s called? All-out war. If you drop me, you better drop me where I can’t get back up. If I get back up, the switch just came off.”
Roy Jones Jr.
Jones Jr. admits he doesn’t know what to expect from Iron Mike.’ You gotta be ready. You never know,” he said. “I’m the smaller guy. If he does plan to unleash those bombs, and I’m not in shape or prepared to defend or take a title, then how am I going to defend myself? How am I going to get him off me? I ain’t depending on a referee. I gotta be in shape and be ready just in case.”
