Mike Tyson draws with Roy Jones Jr. in boxing spectacle

Mike Tyson, the 54-yearold former heavyweight boxing champion, showed glimpses of his destructive prime during his return to the ring for an exhibition match against the 51-yearold Roy Jones Jr.

Mike Tyson, 54, drew with Roy Jones Jr.,51, in a heavily publicized boxing match on Sunday.

Neither boxer landed a knockout blow in the exhibition match, with the fight not officially scored. Tyson, however, looked faster and more aggressive across the eight two-minute rounds.

Both boxers had impressive moments during the fight, and both emerged smiling and apparently healthy from the event.

"I'm good with it," Tyson said after he was told the fight was adjudicated a draw.

"I ain't never happy with a draw. I don't do draw," Jones Jr. said, admitting that Tyson hurt him throughout the bout, particularly with body blows. "If he hits you with his head, punches, body shots, it don't matter, everything hurts. Body shots definitely took a toll. Body shots are what makes you exhausted."

The fight took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, with no official judging and limited violence.

Read more: Boxing: Mike Tyson comes out of retirement to fight Roy Jones Jr.

The much-hyped Tyson-Jones fight was promoted by Triller, a video-making app and social media platform. The fight-night also featured performances by several rappers including Snoop Dogg.

"This is better than fighting for championships,'' Tyson said of the heavyweight exhibition, which raised money for various charities. "We're humanitarians now. We can do something good for the world. We've got to do this again," he added.

Return of the 'baddest man'

Tyson, once considered the "baddest man on the planet," was fighting for the first time in 15 years.

"This is the fun part," Tyson said ahead of the Saturday fight. "Everything else to get here was hell."

"I don't look at life as age," said the former heavyweight boxing champion. "I look at life as energy. You don't bring your age to the table. You bring your energy to the table. You don't go meet people: 'Hey, I'm Bob. I'm 59.' You don't do that."

Read more: Mike Tyson makes boxing comeback at 54 — a medical faux pas?

In 2005, Tyson wrapped up his illustrious boxing career after losing his last professional fight to journeyman Kevin McBride.

He became the heavyweight champion at the age of 20 and reigned over the division for five years.

A chance to be Tyson's opponent

While Tyson became an international icon for his dangerous image and numerous misbehaviors, Jones Jr. was widely regarded as the most skilled boxer of his generation.

Jones Jr. fought regularly throughout the 2010s and retired from boxing in 2018.

He said that when he got an offer to be the opponent in Tyson's comeback, he could not resist the chance to fight a legend he never got to fight during his time mostly as a light heavyweight boxer.

The Saturday event was dubbed an anti-sporting spectacle by some critics, yet both Tyson and Jones appeared to handle themselves capably and safely. Fans were clearly enamored, with the show getting enormous traction on social media.

Read more: Mike Tyson: 'Everyone fights for a reason'

season ticket holders to explain why they required immediate refunds and the decision to make a number of low-salaried employees redundant were among the reasons for the tensions.

For Schalke fans, the developments could not be further removed from the values they associate with their football club, technically the second largest in Germany with 160,000 members. Schalke pride themselves on their youth academy and continually emphasize their socialist roots in the traditional, working class, mining communities of the industrial Ruhr region.

In a furious statement, the Ultras Gelsenkirchen, one of the most vocal and well organized Schalke fan groups and one of the largest ultra groups in Germany, criticized the club's supervisory board, its honorary board, its financial management and the perceived abandonment of the club's values.

"This entire season has been a declaration of moral bankruptcy," they wrote at the end of last season. "The club is rapidly losing trust and identification… We will not let the club be taken from us and destroyed."

Meanwhile, preparations are underway, led by club marketing director Alexander Jobst, to propose a fundamental structural change at Schalke, converting the club from a 100% member-controlled club to a corporate partnership. Such a motion would require a 75% majority to be carried at the next annual general meeting, but is likely to meet stiff resistance from supporters who fear the influence of external investors.

Schalke and the slaughterhouse

Schalke have also made negatives headlines off the pitch due to scandals involving former long-serving chairman Clemens Tönnies.

In June, supporters' groups staged a demonstration under the slogan "Schalke is not a slaughterhouse! Against the destruction of our club!" — the wording a direct reference to the coronavirus outbreak at the Tönnies meat processing plant in nearby Rheda-Wiedenbrück.

It's not the first time that Tönnies, a 64-year-old local billionaire who had chaired Schalke's supervisory board since 2001, has made headlines for nonfootballing reasons. In August 2019, he was obliged to step down from his position for three months after making comments about Africa which were widely deemed to be racist.

With key players having been released and not adequately replaced and an unprecedented winless streak threatening relegation for the first time since 1988, Schalke's off field turmoil is reflected by their performances on the field.

This week's developments are set to bring only more instability to a great club teetering on the edge, not just of relegation, but of ruin.