Mike Tyson looking chiseled training for exhibition

By Boxing News - 05/25/2020 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Mike Tyson is looking chiseled like a statue in the latest posting of him working out on social media. The 53-year-old former heavyweight champion Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs), looks nothing like the overweight Tyson from two years ago in 2018.

Tyson’s exhibition matches, which are believed to be three-round fights, will likely be sold on pay-per-view. For how much is unknown. With Tyson’s fights being just thee rounds with no world titles on the line, it’s difficult to imagine them selling for $80 to $100 per household in the U.S.

Fans aren’t to have much to see with Tyson fighting just three rounds against another older fighter.

Tyson has lost a ton of weight

He’s a lost a lot of weight, and his physique is more toned now than it was for his last three fights of professional career 15 to 18 years ago.

Tyson is getting ready for his boxing comeback. He plans on fighting exhibition matches for charity against well-known fighters. Thus far, former heavyweight champions Shannon Briggs and Evander Holyfield have been mentioned as possible opponents for Tyson.

UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz revealed that he’d been contacted as a potential opponent for one of Tyson’s exhibition fights as well. Ortiz used to be a good MMA fighter 19 years ago. His career tanked in 2012, and he’s not been a factor since then. But back in 2001, Ortiz was one of the UFC’s brightest stars.

If Tyson picks Ortiz, he would be shooting for the older fans that remembered him. The younger fans probably haven’t seen the 45-year-old Ortiz in action.

If Tyson picks a famous ex-UFC fighter like Tito Ortiz, he might be able to bring in more pay-per-view buys than if he faces the likes of Shannon Briggs, Oliver McCall, and James Toney.

Ortiz predicts Tyson fight doubles Mayweather-McGregor PPV numbers

Ortiz said to TMZ: “I was watching Mike Tyson hit pads with one of my old trainers and Tyson was like the old Tyson, fast and speed and powerful and I was like, ‘Wow, Tyson’s going to make a comeback?’ And all of a sudden, two days later, I get a phone call, and someone starts asking me, ‘What do you think about fighting Mike Tyson?’.

“You know what Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather did, I think we could double that.”

YouTube video

It sounds like dream stuff coming from Tito Ortiz in him talking about a fight between him and Tyson bringing in double the pay-per-view numbers of the 2017 match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor. The difference here is McGregor was young, relevant, and the biggest star with the UFC at the time he fought Mayweather. In Ortiz’s case, he stopped being relevant in the UFC in 2006, when he lost to Lyoto Machida. After that defeat, Ortiz was quickly beaten by these fighters:

  • Forrest Griffin x 2
  • Matt Hamill
  • Rashad Evans
  • Antônio Rogério Nogueira
  • Liam McGeary

For Tyson to bring in a lot of money on pay-per-view, he needs to fight a UFC fighter in his prime, not someone whose career went down the tubes 14 years ago like Ortiz.