The world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has no issue with the recently announced exhibition fight between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr.
The contest, which is going to be an eight round exhibition, was officially presemted for September 12 in Los Angeles.
Tyson, 54-years-old, has been away from the ring since 2005. Jones, 51-years-old, was last seen in action back in 2018.
“I think it’s for a passion from them both, it’s what they’ve known. Mike Tyson has been fighting since he was like 13 years old… Roy Jones, his dad pushed him to become a great. Good luck to them both, it’s all they know,” Joshua said to Sky Sports.
But Joshua warns that neither fighter should even consider the possibility of facing the current top heavyweight fighters.
“They haven’t got to do it to compete with the young lions in the division now. We’re bigger, we’re stronger, sports science has improved so there is more technology. The whole sporting world has kind of developed. If Mike Tyson wants to come back and fight someone from his era for the love of the sport, crack on, I wish them well,” Joshua said.
“You’ve seen a clip on social media so you think, ‘[Tyson is] back in action, he’s fighting fit.’ But it’s like one of the old footballers doing a crossbar challenge. Mike Tyson hitting the pads with that ferocious behaviour is just second nature to him. To someone watching from home it looks like this guy is going to come and rule the heavyweight division.”
Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion. He has been teasing a ring return for the last few months with various viral training videos on social media.
Jones held world titles in four weight divisions, including middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight.
