Mike Tyson returns to ring to take on Roy Jones Jr. in exhibition match on Sept. 12
Mike Tyson performs his one man show "Undisputed Truth" in the Music Box at the Borgata on March 6, 2020 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Tyson is slated to step back into the ring in September. (Photo by Donald Kravitz/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES - Legendary boxer Mike Tyson will step back in the ring for a match-up with championship boxer Roy Jones Jr., according to reports.
According to the website for Legends Only League, a new venture that the 54-year-old Tyson announced on July 22, the fight is set to take place on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. It will be available to watch on pay-per-view and on Triller, a social media platform.
Tyson too tweeted about the bout on July 23.
“We’re talking about baseball players, basketball players, soccer players, all kind of leagues,” Tyson said in a video describing the league. “Everybody who decided to say they’re too old, they’re over the hill but they still have it in them, come with us.”
While still competing, Tyson was known to be a formidable opponent in the ring. Tyson finished with a 50-6 record, according to FOX Sports.
Since stepping out of the ring, Tyson has remained a pop culture fixture, appearing in films like “The Hangover” and “A Madea Family Funeral.” According to Biography.com, Tyson also served three years in prison for rape charges.
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The Guardian highlighted his last fight in 2005, where the boxer said that he didn’t “have the guts to be in this sport anymore” after suffering a defeat.
“I'd liked to have continued, but I saw that I was getting beat on. I just don't have this in my heart anymore. I'm not going to disrespect the sport by losing to this caliber of fighter. This is my ending,” Tyson said, according to The Guardian. “I'm not interested in fighting anymore. I hate the smell of a gym. I hate the boxing game. That guy [I used to be] in 1985, 1986 — I don't know that guy anymore. I don't have a connection with him anymore. I'm just not that person anymore. I believed that I was still a fighter, but I'm not. I'm washed up.”
Roy Jones Jr. is also lauded as an all-time great boxer with 66 wins and 9 losses, according to BoxRec, which lists his last fight as having taken place in 2018.