Danny Williams warned Roy Jones Jr. that he will “get seriously hurt” when he faces Mike Tyson.
Danny Williams, a one-time opponent of Mike Tyson, warned Roy Jones Jr. that he will “get seriously hurt” when he faces the heavyweight legend.
Tyson is coming out of retirement at the age of 54 to take on Jones, 51, in a pay-per-view exhibition match on Nov. 28 in Carson, Calif.
Williams, 47, was stopped in the second round by MMA heavyweight Sergei Karitonov over the weekend, which prompted the British boxer to permanently retire.
Williams knows plenty about Tyson, having knocked him out in the fourth round in 2004.
He told the Sun of his concerns that Jones is out of his depth because he’ll be fighting out of his normal weight.
“I think Roy is going to get seriously hurt. He is a natural middleweight,” Williams said.
The exhibition will be Tyson’s first fight in 15 years. His last bout was in 2005 against Kevin McBride, who won by a sixth-round knockout. Tyson’s last victory was a first-round stoppage against Clifford Etienne in 2003.
Jones most recently fought in 2018, outpointing Scott Sigmon.
Tyson’s return to the ring may have prompted Oscar De La Hoya to come out of his own retirement, though he has no fight scheduled.
Danny Williams warned Roy Jones Jr. that he will “get seriously hurt” when he faces Mike Tyson.
Danny Williams, a one-time opponent of Mike Tyson, warned Roy Jones Jr. that he will “get seriously hurt” when he faces the heavyweight legend.
Tyson is coming out of retirement at the age of 54 to take on Jones, 51, in a pay-per-view exhibition match on Nov. 28 in Carson, Calif.
Williams, 47, was stopped in the second round by MMA heavyweight Sergei Karitonov over the weekend, which prompted the British boxer to permanently retire.
Williams knows plenty about Tyson, having knocked him out in the fourth round in 2004.
He told the Sun of his concerns that Jones is out of his depth because he’ll be fighting out of his normal weight.
“I think Roy is going to get seriously hurt. He is a natural middleweight,” Williams said.
The exhibition will be Tyson’s first fight in 15 years. His last bout was in 2005 against Kevin McBride, who won by a sixth-round knockout. Tyson’s last victory was a first-round stoppage against Clifford Etienne in 2003.
Jones most recently fought in 2018, outpointing Scott Sigmon.
Tyson’s return to the ring may have prompted Oscar De La Hoya to come out of his own retirement, though he has no fight scheduled.
Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. are still scheduled to face one another in an exhibition on Nov. 28. But will it actually happen?
Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. are still scheduled to face one another in an exhibition on Nov. 28 in Carson, Calif.
But will it actually happen?
The “fight,” originally scheduled for Sept. 12, was already postponed. Tyson said more time was needed to promote the event properly. Organizers also might be hoping that spectators will be allowed by November.
Jones also threatened to pull out if he wasn’t compensated for any lost business resulting from the delay.
And if the exhibition does take place, will be it be worth the $49.99 pay-per-view price?
In this episode of Chris Mannix on boxing, courtesy of DAZN, the host and his guests answer these questions.
Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. are still scheduled to face one another in an exhibition on Nov. 28. But will it actually happen?
Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. are still scheduled to face one another in an exhibition on Nov. 28 in Carson, Calif.
But will it actually happen?
The “fight,” originally scheduled for Sept. 12, was already postponed. Tyson said more time was needed to promote the event properly. Organizers also might be hoping that spectators will be allowed by November.
Jones also threatened to pull out if he wasn’t compensated for any lost business resulting from the delay.
And if the exhibition does take place, will be it be worth the $49.99 pay-per-view price?
In this episode of Chris Mannix on boxing, courtesy of DAZN, the host and his guests answer these questions.
Roy Jones Jr. is threatening to pull out of his Nov. 28 pay-per-view exhibition with Mike Tyson over the postponement of the event.
Roy Jones Jr. is threatening to pull out of his Nov. 28 pay-per-view exhibition with Mike Tyson over the postponement of the event.
Jones, 51, told DailyMail.com that the moving the event from Sept. 28 to November will have cost him money. If he’s not compensated, he said, he’ll walk away from the much-hyped eight-round “fight.”
The digital platform Triller, which is co-hosting the event, announced that it was pushed back. Tyson said the delay would allow more time for marketing.
“For me it was more about pushing to go ahead and do it, firstly because I’m focused and you need to stay focused,” he said. “… I’ve had to cancel other stuff to be out here, it’s upset my calendar, I’ve got to change things.
“… That’s the biggest issue. I’m not a full time boxer anymore so I do other things to make an income. If I can’t do other things, then I should be compensated for that, because it changes the schematics. It’s not acceptable.”
Mike Tyson is scheduled to face Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition on Nov. 28. Douglas DeFelice / USA TODAY Sports
Jones said he is working with organizers to resolve the issue.
“We’re trying to figure something out, my lawyers [are] talking with their lawyers, trying to figure out ways to make it a better situation so that I can compensated for it, that is more beneficial for me to do,” he said. “… If they don’t make it make sense, it (the fight) would be off.
“Why would I change the date and mess up the rest of my year when I agreed to September 12. They said they wanted to get a crowd. If you want to get a crowd, that’s a different type of money. If you want a big event, that’s a different type of money.
“You think I’m going to say, OK, let’s look at my money, but I’m not getting no better percent. How dumb is that to me? So let’s see what happens.”
Could the delay help him in terms of training?
“If everything works out, yes,” he said. “I don’t know if things … if everything will work out yet.”
Roy Jones Jr. is threatening to pull out of his Nov. 28 pay-per-view exhibition with Mike Tyson over the postponement of the event.
Roy Jones Jr. is threatening to pull out of his Nov. 28 pay-per-view exhibition with Mike Tyson over the postponement of the event.
Jones, 51, told DailyMail.com that the moving the event from Sept. 28 to November will have cost him money. If he’s not compensated, he said, he’ll walk away from the much-hyped eight-round “fight.”
The digital platform Triller, which is co-hosting the event, announced that it was pushed back. Tyson said the delay would allow more time for marketing.
“For me it was more about pushing to go ahead and do it, firstly because I’m focused and you need to stay focused,” he said. “… I’ve had to cancel other stuff to be out here, it’s upset my calendar, I’ve got to change things.
“… That’s the biggest issue. I’m not a full time boxer anymore so I do other things to make an income. If I can’t do other things, then I should be compensated for that, because it changes the schematics. It’s not acceptable.”
Mike Tyson is scheduled to face Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition on Nov. 28. Douglas DeFelice / USA TODAY Sports
Jones said he is working with organizers to resolve the issue.
“We’re trying to figure something out, my lawyers [are] talking with their lawyers, trying to figure out ways to make it a better situation so that I can compensated for it, that is more beneficial for me to do,” he said. “… If they don’t make it make sense, it (the fight) would be off.
“Why would I change the date and mess up the rest of my year when I agreed to September 12. They said they wanted to get a crowd. If you want to get a crowd, that’s a different type of money. If you want a big event, that’s a different type of money.
“You think I’m going to say, OK, let’s look at my money, but I’m not getting no better percent. How dumb is that to me? So let’s see what happens.”
Could the delay help him in terms of training?
“If everything works out, yes,” he said. “I don’t know if things … if everything will work out yet.”
The Mike Tyson-Roy Jones Jr. exhibition, originally set for Sept. 21, reportedly has been pushed back to Nov. 28.
Has the Mike Tyson-Roy Jones Jr. exhibition been postponed?
RingTV.com is reporting that the pay-per-view event, scheduled for Sept. 21 behind closed doors at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif., will now take place on Nov. 28 at the same location.
Tyson and his handlers evidently believed they needed more time to properly promote the “fight,” which has garnered mainstream interest. There is also the hope that fans could attend at a later date.
The event, ostensibly for charity, was announced on July 23. Andy Foster, executive director of the California State Athletic Commission, said it meant to be the equivalent of light sparring.
Tyson, 54, hasn’t fought since he was stopped by Kevin McBride in 2005. Jones, 51, fought as recently as 2018, when he outpointed Scott Sigmon.
YouTube personality Jake Paul and former NBA player Nate Robinson are expected to fight one another on the card.
Roy Jones Jr. said that he and Mike Tyson, in their primes, could have beaten Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.
Back in their primes, Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. couldn’t be touched inside the ring. And few were as exciting to watch as those two.
Tyson was the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history and reigned as the undisputed champion from 1987 to 1990. Jones is a former four-division world champion who rarely lost a round inside the squared circle during his magnificent run in the 1990s and mid-2000s. In March 2003, Jones became the first boxer in more than 100 years to start his career as a middleweight and win a heavyweight title, defeating John Ruiz to win a major belt.
At the time, a dream fight scenario emerged that would pit Tyson against Jones, but Tyson had taken a sabbatical, and Jones vacated the title and went back down to light heavyweight. Seventeen years later, Tyson and Jones will lock horns in an eight-round exhibition on Sept. 12 in Carson, Calif.
While Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs) and Jones (66-9, 47 KOs) represent the old guard, the new guard in the land of the giants features titleholders Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Fans always speculate how active fighters would fare against the greats from the past. Jones was asked this question in an interview with Sky Sports: How would he and Tyson could do if paired with the Brits.
The 51-year-old believes they would have been able to take care of business against Fury and Joshua.
“Not right now,” Jones said. “It would be hard for us to last 12 rounds with any of those guys. They are skilled fighters, not bad boxers. They are not as skilled as we were, but they are in their primes, and we are not.
“In our primes? We would probably have beaten them. You can never say, but I think we would probably have beaten them. Our skill level was deeper at that time than it is now.
“In our prime, we would have come out on top against most of those guys. But you never know because it never happened, so you can’t discredit those guys. They are good fighters, well-respected fighters, and my hat is off to them because they are at the top.”
Fury and Joshua have tentatively agreed to a two-fight series in 2021. But for those bouts to happen, Fury must get by Deontay Wilder in their third fight, expected to occur on Dec. 19, and Joshua is supposed to defend his belt against Kubrat Pulev later this year.
Mike Tyson was asked about the prospect of facing MMA star Conor McGregor and responded by saying, “I’d kick his a–.”
Mike Tyson vs. Conor McGregor? Stranger things have happened.
Tyson was a guest on “The Tonight Show” on Monday. Host Jimmy Fallon asked the former heavyweight champion how he would fare against the fictional likes of Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago.
“I think I could beat anybody that ever lived,” said 54-year-old Iron Mike, who is set to face Roy Jones Jr. in a pay-per-view exhibition on Sept. 12 in the Los Angeles area.
Fallon then brought up MMA star Conor McGregor.
“How about this one? This one actually could happen,” Fallon asked. “Mike Tyson vs. Conor McGregor. That dude is nuts.”
“Yeah, but I’d kick his a– anyway!” Tyson responded.
Fallon pointed out that McGregor, 32, is a mixed martial artist, not a boxer. Tyson responded by saying, “”Hey, we’ll play with boxing rules.”
McGregor was knocked out by Floyd Mayweather under boxing rules in August 2017. The Irishman weighed 153 pounds for that fight, making him a junior middleweight.
Tyson is a relatively big man. He has trimmed down as a result of an intense training regimen but still reportedly weighs around 220 pounds, which would seem to preclude a showdown with McGregor.
Of course, when millions of dollars are on the table, anything is possible.
McGregor hasn’t responded to Tyson’s comments on social media … yet.
Roy Jones Jr. said the offer of an exhibition with Mike Tyson was “too incredible to resist.”
(Editor’s note: This story was originally published at MMA Junkie, part of the USA TODAY Network.)After all these years, Roy Jones Jr. is getting his wish.
Jones, 51, always has wanted to fight Tyson, but the stars never aligned. Jones, the former heavyweight titleholder, had most of his success as a cruiserweight, middleweight and light heavyweight, but would have stuck around at heavyweight when he won the WBA title in 2003 if he had the chance to fight Tyson.
However, Tyson retired shortly after.
Tyson, 54, has been teasing a comeback for a while, looking in phenomenal shape in training videos on social media. But despite that, Jones admits that the news of Tyson’s comeback was shocking, and he’s ecstatic to get the opportunity to fight him, even if it’s 17 years later.
“Too hard to resist, too incredible to resist, too much of a blessing to resist” Jones told MMA Junkie on Monday. “When I won the heavyweight title, I told them the only other person I would fight as a heavyweight was Mike Tyson. If Mike Tyson didn’t want to fight, I was going back down to light heavyweight. From what I got … was that he was through with boxing, he didn’t want to box no more, so I left and went back to light heavyweight. I didn’t stick around, but to have him come out now and say, ‘OK, I want to come back. Guess what? You wanted it, you get your opportunity.’ I’m like, ‘Yes.’”
California State Athletic Commission executive officer Andy Foster recently said that the public can’t be mislead into believing this is a real fight. But Jones says it won’t be any different than if they were to have fought in 2003, and he expects Tyson to come out with the same ruthless energy that has led to 44 knockouts in his 50 career wins.
“No different,” Jones said. “I mean, the first three rounds, he’s gonna be dangerous. He was like that in his prime. He’s like that now. He’s a guy that can knock you out from Round 1 to Round 12, so in the eighth round he’ll still be dangerous. But if you can get the fatigue factor to set in, then you got a better chance. So for me, I got to try and work off the second half of the fight more so than I work off the first half.”
He continued, “Mike knows one way – kill. That’s all he knows. Destruction and destroy. That’s all he understands, so my mindset is I better be ready when I go in between those ropes. One thing my dad’s taught me, he said, ‘If you’re going to kill a fly, you kill a fly with an axe, not a fly swatter.’”
