After a lot of will-they/won’t-they, it appears that there will be some sort of encounter between Mike Tyson and Evander Hoylfield coming on May 29.
“There’s a small, fundamental difference to get some paperwork done, and then it’s on to the races with me and Evander,” Tyson said.
“The fight is on with me and Holyfield. Holyfield’s a humble man, I know that, he’s a man of God, but I’m God’s man, and I’m gonna be successful May 29th.”
The 54-year-old Tyson, who hasn’t had a sanctioned fight since 2005, had an exhibition with Roy Jones Jr last November. The “fight” was what it was, with obviously pulled punches and nobody being declared winner, which was extra funny when it was clear someone (Tyson) had “won” based on performance. That part then became extra extra funny when you realized human beings had made bets with real Earth dollars on the event, refusing to listen to people who made clear from the jump that it was an exhibition despite the objections from Tyson, Jones, and the people at Triller, who promoted the event.
Tyson has made clear that Triller will not be involved in this one, and that the show will be put on by his “Legends Only League,” which at this point is a concept more than anything.
Holyfield, 58, kept his boxing career active much longer than Tyson did, fighting into 2011. The selling point here, obviously, is that Tyson and Holyfield had two of the most famous fights ever, and two of the biggest PPV fights ever, in 1996 and 1997. Holyfield stopped Tyson in the 11th round in the first bout, which was considered an upset, and then won a third-round DQ in the infamous “Bite Fight” rematch.
More likely than not, Tyson-Holyfield will be an exhibition like the Jones bout. Sanctioning a fight between two guys in their mid-to-late 50s is really not something reputable commissions are going to look to do, especially given how dangerous boxing is no matter who’s doing it. A terrible injury or worse in an event like this — which will get headlines — would be beyond a nightmare for everyone involved and the sport of boxing as a whole.
But Tyson-Jones playing out how it did didn’t seem to bother anyone, either. Most people understood what it was, and had fun just seeing two of their old favorites in the ring again, and it was an enjoyable enough show. And Tyson has been pretty adamant that he’s not looking to do real, full-fledged fights again; he could make a truckload of money if someone would license him and sanction it, but he doesn’t seem that interested in that aspect of it, either.
Anyway, this isn’t even official, but that date is currently open (it looks like Teofimo Lopez vs George Kambosos Jr will be June 5, not May 29 as was previously floated) and it will draw attention and make money if it goes down.
Source: badlefthook.com
