Tyson and Jones battle to draw
Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr., two 50-something boxing legends, came out of retirement for a nostalgic exhibition match benefiting charity. Neither fighter got hurt. The main event went the full eight rounds, and the pay-per-view production was clean throughout.
All in all, Saturday night's payper-view proceedings were a success despite the final result, an anticlimactic draw in front of a nearly empty Staples Center in Los Angeles amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The judges scoring the fight remotely were Christy Martin, Chad Dawson and Vinny Pazienza, all former World Boxing Council champions. Martin awarded Tyson the decision, 79-73; Dawson scored it 76-76; and Pazienza had Jones winning, 80-76.
Tyson, 54, landed the more convincing blows, including a straight left and straight right in the eighth followed by a rare combination to the body. The 51-year-old Jones, meanwhile, mostly tried to keep his distance from Tyson, while counterpunching to score.
Jones, regarded as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters of all-time, also clinched for lengthy stretches, trying to wear down and frustrate Tyson, who was fighting for the first time in 15 years. Jones had been far more active in his twilight boxing years, most recently fighting in 2018.
Saturday's result did not count on the official records of Tyson or Jones, although the California State Athletic Commission and the WBC sanctioned the bout that included provisions intended to prevent both fighters from absorbing serious injury at their advanced age.
The fight was to be stopped if either participant suffered a cut. Rounds were two minutes instead of the customary three. Tyson and Jones each wore 12-ounce gloves, two ounces heavier than standard for sanctioned matches at the welterweight division or higher.
Meanwhile, Nate Robinson's boxing debut was a brief one, ending when he was knocked out cold in the second round of his bout with Jake Paul on the Tyson-jones Jr. undercard. Robinson, an 11-year NBA veteran who is 36, was outclassed by Paul (2-0, 2 KO).