By Allan Fox: Mike Tyson is looking great in a short clip of him working out on social media in training or his eight-round exhibition match against boxing legend Roy Jones Jr on November 28.
The former IBF/WBA/WBC heavyweight champion ‘Iron’ Mike (50-6, 44 KOs) looks even better now than he did for the final fight of his career in 2005.
The 54-year-old Tyson was throwing shots that had knockout intentions on them in the latest leaked workout. What’s interesting is how afraid-looking the guy is that is holding the mitts. He looks like he’s timid about possibly getting clipped by one of Tyson’s off-target hooks.
Indeed, there’s a left hook that Tyson threw during the clip that had the guy holding the mitts falling into the ropes.
The 52-year-old Jones Jr (66-9, 47 KOs) is one of the greatest of all time in the sport of boxing, but it’s difficult to picture him being able to handle one or two of Tysons’s power shots on November 28.
Unless Jones’ chin has improved since his 4th round knockout loss to former WBO cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarinelli in 2015, he’s going to be in trouble against Tyson.
Jones has had had problems handing power shots since his second-round knockout loss to Antonio Tarver in May 2004. That knockout is the beginning of the end of Jones Jr’s remarkable career.
In Jones’ subsequent fights over the years, he’s suffered four additional knockout losses, and all of them were the brutal type that left Roy on the canvas looking hurt.
If Tyson takes it easy on Jones Jr due to their fight being an exhibition match, then he’ll survive. However, if Tyson doesn’t go for the knockout, a lot of the boxing fans that’ll be ordering the contest on pay-per-view will be upset because they’re paying to see a KO.
Tyson picked the perfect opponent for him to score a highlight-reel knockout of in going against Roy Jones Jr. The difference between the size of the two fighters and the fact that Jones has shown vulnerability in the chin department, it spells an early ending on November 28. Tyson hits too hard for Jones to last long in this fight unless he runs and holds.
The one advantage that Roy has over Tyson is his activity. Roy last fought two years ago in beating journeyman Scott Sigmon in 2018. In contrast, Tyson hasn’t fought since 2005, and that’s a long, long time ago. Jones may be able to wear Tyson down if he can keep out of the way of one of his immense power shots early on.
For the most part, you can argue that the boxing fans will be ordering the Tyson-Jones contest hoping to watch ‘Iron’ Mike do his thing by knocking out Roy. The fans want to see a glimpse of Tyson that they remembered during his prime.