Mike Tyson’s AEW future is now up in the air.
It was announced today that Tyson will return to the boxing ring to battle another boxing great, Roy Jones Jr., in an exhibition fight on Saturday, September 12 at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Tyson appeared for AEW earlier this year and had a feud with Chris Jericho. There had been talk, within AEW and publicly, of Tyson returning to do more work. Jericho had campaigned for a match with Tyson, and that match was rumored, but not confirmed, but the AEW All Out pay-per-view on Saturday, September 5.
Tyson having any kind of match at All Out now seems like a long shot because the exhibition fight with Jones Jr. will be the following week. While Jones Jr. and Tyson won’t engage in a full-on boxing match, there will be training involved and that could keep Tyson from preparing for the AEW ring.
Andy Foster, the executive director of the California State Athletic Commission, told Yahoo Sports that Tyson and Jones Jr. won’t be wearing headgear, but will be wearing larger than normal gloves, likely 12 ounces. The exhibition will go for 8 rounds.
“This isn’t a situation where they’re going out there to try to take each other’s heads off,” Foster said. “They’re just going to be in there moving around the ring and letting fans see these legends.”
The 54 year old Tyson hasn’t fought since losing to Kevin McBride on June 11, 2005. The 51 year old Jones hasn’t fought since February 8, 2018, when he defeated Scott Sigmon.
It’s possible that Tyson gets in the AEW ring after the exhibition fight as Yahoo reports that this is not expected to lead to a regular series of fights against active boxers for Tyson, despite rumors and interest in a comeback from Tyson.
The pro boxing legend is also a WWE Hall of Famer. A return to the boxing ring had been rumored this summer after Tyson started training and showing off the great shape he’s in.
Tyson also announced his Legends Only League today, which will bring back veteran stars from other sports. Below is his Instagram promo for the venture:
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