Sports

Roy Jones Jr threatening to withdraw from Mike Tyson fight

Roy Jones Jr hasn’t taken kindly to the postponement of his exhibition pay-per-view fight with Mike Tyson, which was recently moved from Sept. 12 to Nov. 28 as organizers are trying to make more money from the bout and feel that’s a better date, and is now threatening to pull out of the fight.

From the Daily Mail:

“I’ve had to cancel other stuff to be out here, it’s upset my calendar, I’ve got to change things. That’s why we have to table bullshit now. That’s the biggest issue, I’m not a full time boxer anymore so I do other things to make an income. If I can’t do other things then I should be compensated for that, because it changes the schematics. It’s not acceptable. … We’re trying to figure something out, my lawyers is talking with their lawyers, trying to figure out ways to make it a better situation so that I can compensated for it, that is more beneficial for me to do. … If they don’t make it make sense, it would be off.”

The 51-year-old Jones (66-9, 47 KO) last fought in 2018, well over a decade past his prime, and does have other ventures now, including working as a trainer, notably recently with Chris Eubank Jr. The 54-year-old Tyson (50-6, 44 KO) hasn’t fought since 2005, following two straight rather meek performances in defeat, long removed from the ferocious heavyweight he was in his peak years.

The eight-round exhibition announcement followed months of social media teases and viral videos of Tyson returning to training and saying he wanted to fight again. The event is meant to be promoted by Triller, a social media platform.