Roy Jones Jr. will finally get his wish of facing Mike Tyson.
It was announced Thursday that the pair of former boxing heavyweight champions will return to the sport to face each other in an eight-round exhibition match set to take place September 12 in California.
For Jones, it will be his first taste of action since outpointing Scott Sigmon in February 2018. The reason the 51-year-old stopped fighting was because there were more risks than rewards at that point.
And while the fight with Tyson will be for fun, there is a reward for Jones, who has been itching to face “Iron Mike” for a while now.
“For fun, but the risks vs. reward thing too,” Jones said on The Luke Thomas Show when asked whether fighting Tyson was for fun. ” … When I won the heavyweight title, the only heavyweight I wanted to fight was Mike Tyson. So If I got a chance 20 years later to get in the ring with Mike, of course I’m going to do it. … How can I say no?”
One And Done For Jones
Jones notably won the WBA heavyweight title in 2003 when he outpointed John Ruiz. Unfortunately, he couldn’t face Tyson at the time as the latter was approaching the end of his career.
They will now face each other in their fifties with some observers expecting the fight to be a train wreck. But even if it does turn out to be a major success, don’t expect Jones to stick around.
“No,” he responded when asked if he would fight someone else afterwards. “If it’s a huge success, there’s a possibility, but I doubt it. … One and done.”
You can hear the full snippet below:
🔊"The only heavyweight I wanted to fight was Mike Tyson. So If I got a chance 20 years later to get in the ring with Mike, of course I'm going to do it."- @RealRoyJonesJr on coming out of retirement and whether it's the last time we'll see him in the ring🥊 #TLTS@lthomasnews pic.twitter.com/rkjbGMX8AY
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) July 24, 2020