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Cynical reason behind Mike Tyson's delayed comeback

yahoo sports staff
·2-min read
Heavyweight boxing legend Mike Tyson is pictured.
Mike Tyson's boxing return has been postponed by a few weeks, reportedly to capitalise on a potentially larger pay-per-view audience. (Photo by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Mike Tyson’s return to the ring will have to wait just a little bit longer.

Tyson’s eight-round exhibition match against Roy Jones Jr. was postponed on Sunday afternoon, according to The Athletic.

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The fight was originally scheduled to take place in Southern California on Sept. 12, but has been tentatively rescheduled for Nov. 28, two days after the American holiday of Thanksgiving.

According to The Ring’s Ryan O’Hara, the bout was pushed because Tyson’s team felt it could maximise revenue on the pay-per-view fight by pushing it back.

The fight was initially set to take place at Dignity Health Park in Carson, California, without fans present.

Tyson hasn’t fought since June 11, 2005, when he fell to Kevin McBride.

The 54-year-old former undisputed heavyweight champion was teasing his return for quite some time on social media, dropping training videos that showed he is still an incredible fighter.

Jones hasn’t fought in a few years, either. The 51-year-old last stepped into the ring in 2018.

There were going to be several notable fights on the undercard, too, including one between YouTuber Jake Paul and former NBA player Nate Robinson.

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While boxing fans were initially frothing over the prospect of seeing Tyson and Jones Jr back in the ring after 15 years, the intricate details about the fight left some feeling pretty flat.

According to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports US (who first broke the news on Thursday), Tyson and Jones will be wearing bigger gloves to protect each other and won’t be trying to knock each other out.

“This isn’t a situation where they’re going out there to try to take each other’s heads off,” Andy Foster, the executive director of the California State Athletic Commission, told Iole.

Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr will wear bigger gloves to protect one another in their upcoming return to the boxing ring. (Photo by Azhar Khan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr will wear bigger gloves to protect one another in their upcoming return to the boxing ring. (Photo by Azhar Khan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

“They’re just going to be in there moving around the ring and letting fans see these legends.”

The fight will be available on pay-per-view outlets as well as on music-video app Triller, which has exclusive streaming rights to a 10-part docuseries featuring behind-the-scenes pre-fight footage.

Tyson is the former undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion with a record of 50 wins, six losses, and two no contests.

With Yahoo Sports US/Ryan Young