By Matt Lieberman: 15 years after retiring from the sport, 53-year-old former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs) announced that he’s planning on returning to the ring for what could be a series of exhibition matches. This could be a horrible idea due to the risk of Tyson getting hurt during his matches.
Tyson is not a young guy any longer, and he looked shot to pieces in three out of the last four contests during his career from 2002 to 2005. He lost to Lennox Lewis, Danny Williams, and Kevin McBride. While Lewis was an exceptionally talented fighter, McBride and Williams were not. Those were journeyman level guys, who exposed Tyson, showing that he was over-the-hill and done as a fighter.
Tyson taking a risk
Now it’s 15 years later, and Tyson has chosen to return to the ring after looking impressive in a workout video posted on Youtube. It’s not easy for any athlete to return to their respective sports after being retired for 15 years, but when you’re talking about a person that’s 53-years-old and returning to boxing, there’s danger there.
Tyson’s videos of him hitting the mitts with his coach Rafael Cordeiro will likely lead to ‘Iron Mike’ making massive money from different endorsements. It doesn’t matter if Tyson fights mediocre fodder. The money is likely to pour in for Tyson, as long as he bowls over whatever opponents that he’s matched against.
Here’s the thing. Tyson is fighting exhibition fights in which the money goes to charity. However, will Tyson give the money that he receives for product endorsements to charity as well? You can only imagine how much green stuff will come rolling in for Tyson if he looks sensational in his exhibition matches. He might not even need to make a real comeback for the endorsement deals to be offered to him.
There’s also a lot of speculation about Tyson and boxing great Evander Holyfield facing each other in a trilogy. Holyfield revealed this week to 3 Point Conversion that there are talks about a fight between him and Tyson. You can only imagine how much money the third Tyson vs. Holyfield fight will make. Yes, the money will go to charity, but there’s likely going to be product endorsement offers for both fighters.
A lot of endorsement money possible
For retired fighters, this could be a good strategy for them to make a lot of money. You take a well-known boxer and put him in exhibition matches against over-matched opposition. When he looks sensational, then the endorsements offers start rolling in. Who can forget former heavyweight champion, George Foreman? He made a comeback in his 40s and made massive money from endorsements without beating the elite level heavyweights during that era.
Although Foreman (76-5, 68 KOs) captured IBF/WBA heavyweight titles in beating Michael Moorer in November 1994, he didn’t beat any of the talented guys back then. Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe, Lennox Lewis, and Evander Holyfield were the lions in the division during Foreman’s comeback. He lost to Holyfield, and then never fought Tyson, Bowe or Lewis.
We could see a stampede of former fighters from all weight classes returning to the ring soon for exhibition matches. Floyd Mayweather Jr. has already shown that big money can be made in exhibition fights. Although Mayweather’s circus level match against UFC star Conor McGregor was shockingly sanctioned as a true professional fight in the state of Nevada, it resembled an exhibition fight.
Mayweather fight looking like he was taking it easy against a guy with an 0-0 record in boxing in McGregor. It wouldn’t have mattered one bit if the fight were sold to the fans an exhibition fight.
They still would have paid to see it, which is why there’s a lot of money to be made by former fighters like Tyson, Holyfield, and many others. As long as they have a recognizable name, they can potentially make a lot of money.
Will headgear be used for exhibition matches?
For retired fighters like Mike Tyson, he’s going to be taking a risk in coming back to fight against anybody. There are ways obviously to minimize risk by wearing large gloves, headgear, and ensuring that the exhibition matches are three to five rounds.
It’s still risky for Tyson and any older fighter coming out of a long retirement. The question is, will the money be good enough for fighters like Tyson to put themselves in harm’s way by coming out of retirement for a series of exhibition matches? Tyson made a lot of money during his professional career, and he’s probably not hurting.
But then again, Tyson isn’t sitting on a massive fortune like Floyd Mayweather Jr., whose net worth is out of this world. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Tyson’s net worth is listed as $3 million. In comparison, they list Mayweather’s at $560 million. If Tyson is offered product endorsement deals, he could make a massive amount of money coming back with his exhibition matches.
It’s one of those things were a lot of older people will be motivated by Tyson, showing what a fighter in his 50s is capable of doing. At the same time, it’s going to be risky potentially to Tyson’s health because he’s going to be getting hit a lot. It doesn’t matter that the fights are going to be short exhibition matches. Tyson will still be taking shots, and that potentially could be a bad thing for a guy in his 50s.
Tyson needs to know what he’s getting himself into
There are plenty of risky professions where people put their lives at risk daily. It’s not just boxing—for example, underground miners breathing in dust and are at risk of cave-ins.
These are other risky professions:
- Aircraft pilots
- Truck drivers
- Roofers
- Loggers
- Fishermen
As long as Tyson knows what he’s getting himself into in coming back, he’ll be mindful of the risks involved. Hopefully, he’ll know when to get out of the sport. Facing older guys like Holyfield and James Toney will present less risk for Tyson than if he tries to make a comeback and fight against some of the elite heavyweights in this era like Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua.
A lot of boxing fans want to see Tyson take on former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay, and they believe he can beat him. That’s probably a bad idea for Tyson, considering the 6’7″ Wilder is one of the biggest punchers in the history of the sport.
