All of the recent talk of Mike Tyson fighting Evander Holyfield may not be happening as some might’ve thought, but Tyson will be going against Roy Jones Jr. instead.
Tyson and Jones will be fighting each other on Sept. 12 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, according to TMZ. The event, titled “Frontline Battle,” will be an eight-round exhibition bout and can be watched on pay-per-view, as well as Triller, a new social media platform.
Andy Foster, the executive director of the California State Athletic Commission, told Yahoo! Sports that both fighters will be wearing bigger gloves in the bout to lighten the impact of their blows, and they won’t be trying to hurt each other.
“This isn’t a situation where they’re going out there to try to take each other’s heads off,” Foster explained. “They’re just going to be in there moving around the ring and letting fans see these legends.”
But after news of the fight surfaced, Tyson spoke with TMZ and suggested that he won’t be holding back against Jones.
“Anybody that knows me … I just know one way of fighting and that’s just what it is,” said the New York born-boxer.
Tyson’s last fight was a loss to Kevin McBride on June 11, 2005, while Jones fought on Feb. 8, 2018, against Scott Sigmon, a bout Jones won. Tyson is 54 years old and Jones is 51.
Leading up to the fight, Triller will stream a 10-part docuseries that will show Tyson and Jones’ preparation, however, a premiere date has yet to be announced.
There will also be musical performances to kick off the bout by several big-name artists, including Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Future, The Weeknd, Pitbull, and Marshmello, a famed DJ.
Both boxers shared news of the big fight to their Instagram pages on Thursday, July 23. Tyson did it by posting a trailer for the match, and Jones showed himself and Tyson signing their respective contracts.
Underneath their posts, some tried to determine who would have their hands raised as winner when the final bell rings. Jones believes it will be him if Tyson doesn’t finish him quickly.
“Mike is a killer … Mike is the kind of killer that got to go and kill quick,” Jones told TMZ. “If he don’t kill quick he got problems on his hands.”
Jones, who has held titles in four different weight classes, middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight, has a professional record of 66-9, while Tyson’s record is 50-6.
Talk of Tyson returning to the ring began when he started posting videos of himself training and hitting the mitts in May.
