By Jim Maltzman: Roy Jones Jr and Mike Tyson fought to an ugly eight-round draw in their exhibition old-timers match on pay-per-view on Saturday night behind closed doors at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
Some boxing fans believe this was a scripted fight that was always meant to be scored a draw. Originally, there wasn’t supposed to be any winners.
The fact that the judges scored it a draw is in line with the original idea. That’s okay, but Tyson and the organizers of these events could get diminishing returns in their next exhibition event on pay-per-view. For fans to want to pay to see fights, they want real action, not two old-timers playing around, trying not to hurt each like we saw tonight.
Tyson showed footwork and head movement that is better than many of the top heavyweights in the division today. His skills were still top-notch for any age, but we didn’t get to see him put his foot on the accelerator to take Jones Jr out.
Boxing News 24 had Tyson winning easily by seven rounds. Jones Jr made it a point that he wasn’t going to get knocked out, and he did a great job of accomplishing that by playing it safe for eight rounds.
“The body shots definitely took a toll,” Jones said. “The body shots are what make you exhausted. I knew that. I had a six-pack but I think I needed a 12-pack.”
For the boxing fans that aren’t used to so much clinching from fighters, they probably weren’t pleased with the amount of holding that the 51-year-old Jones Jr did tonight.
When you purchase a fight involving two fighters that are in their 50s, it’s par for the course. You’re not going to get the same value for your money as you would in paying to see a couple of elite fighters in their 20s.
As you’d expect, the 54-year-old former IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs) landed the cleaner, harder shots.
Both guys looked like they were in first gear, giving the paying fans a small glimpse of the skills they possessed during their respective careers. But neither fighter like they were seriously trying to hurt one another.
If Tyson plans on doing more exhibition fights like he’s talking about, he needs to make them more appealing to the fans by going for knockouts and not just carrying his opponents.
You took them,” said Tyson. “I hit you with a good shot and you took it. I respect that.”
The only hard shots Tyson was hitting Jones with were to the body, not the head. If Tyson had gone upstairs, he probably would have knocked Jones out in the first couple of rounds.
If the California Commission is going to be strict as far as the rules for future Tyson exhibition matches, he’d be better off taking it to a state with fewer rules, and that allows knockouts. Taking the exhibition matches out of the U.S might work if the Commissions are too strict.
If Tyson took his fights to Mexico, he might have better luck in entertaining the fights and encouraging them to continue to purchase his PPV events.
By far the best fight on the card was YouTuber Jake Paul with his second-round knockout against NBA star Nate Robinson. That was a fun fight and the only real entertaining match on the card.
Paul knocked Robinson out cold with a right to the head in the second round. The shot put Robinson down face-first on the canvas. It was a scary knockout.