SAN FRANCISCO, November 28, (THEWILL) –Â The day finally came when boxing legends Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr entered the ring once again to give boxing fans suffering nostalgic feelings of the days of yore an exhibition to be entertained by.
And they punched out to an entertaining draw in their comeback fight in Los Angeles before the former undisputed heavyweight champion ‘Iron Mike’ said he would ‘absolutely fight again’.
Superstars of yesterday, they both showed flashes of their old brilliance in a competitive exhibition fight where the remote judges found little to split them after the full eight rounds.
54-year-old Tyson proved his training as he came firing out of the blocks in the first round. He was throwing hooks to the body and head with the intention of doing damage.
On his part, the slicker 51-year-old Jones Jr applied his superior footspeed to evade much of Tyson’s attacks. He did take a solid right hand once which momentarily unbalanced him. But, he was hitting and moving, going with a jab and then ducking out of range as Tyson continued to march forward and throw wild hooks.
As was expected for boxers at their age, the fight began to get sloppy in the middle rounds as fatigue set in. Jones convincingly hit a few decent shots of his own but it was his defensive work which was reminiscent of the old Jones.
Iron Mike’s huge will was apparent throughout as he ploughed forward, throwing combinations to the head and body. Yet, he found it difficult to cope with Jones Jr’s range and speed. He obviously landed the punch of the fight in the sixth round when he slipped a jab and countered with a lovely-timed left.
Jones Jr took it strongly and did a good job of tying Tyson up for the last couple of rounds. The final bell came as a relief for both men who showed great respect to each other by embracing at the end.
Scored a little more than Jones Jr in the rounds, Tyson insisted he would be open to fighting again at the age of 54. But, Jones Jr appeared more reluctant when asked if he would step back in the ring for another one of these.
“I’m just happy I got this under my belt and I’m going to continue to do more. Absolutely I would do this again. I’m just happy I could go eight rounds. Knockouts mean nothing, you have to be able to go the distance.
“I wouldn’t fight professionally. I’m about this now, about being a humanitarian and helping people. I’m happy with the draw, I felt I won but I’m happy with the draw and that we entertained people.’
However, for Jones Jr, “It’s hard to say if I would do it again. I took some hard punches from Mike. I was tiring towards the end because of the body shots. We know as boxers that’s what slows someone down.
“I need to talk to my family, see what they think. Thank you to everybody who sent us out the right way. If everything goes the right way and my family say it’s alright, who knows.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
