Los Angeles Times

There will be blood. No, really, there will

Tyson and Jones vow violence tonight at Staples, though fight is billed as exhibition.

- By Manouk Akopyan

Mike Tyson says he’s ready to disable Roy Jones Jr. when the former boxing champions meet Saturday night. Jones says he’s ready to die in the ring.

California State Athletic Commission executive director Andy Foster, however, says this is not a real f ight, its judges won’t score the scrap or announce a winner, knockdowns are not welcome and the exhibition will be stopped if it comes anything close to Hagler vs. Hearns.

Something has to give when Tyson and Jones mix it up for eight rounds at Staples Center in a pay- per- view event.

The 54- year- old Tyson and the 51- year- old Jones will bring a combined 116 profession­al wins and 105 years into the ring. The proceeding­s will unfold over eight two- minute rounds, with 12- ounce gloves and without headgear, and longtime referee Ray Corona will be policing the action. There even has been anti- doping testing for the match.

The event’s producer, Ryan Kavanaugh, is a longtime Hollywood executive whose investment company Proxima Media is the majority owner of TikTok rival Triller. The social media platform reportedly paid $ 50 million to broadcast the f ight. Kavanaugh is not a boxing promoter, but he might as well be Don King waxing promotiona­l poetic and hinting that the late ’ 80s version of Tyson will be making a comeback.

“This is a real fight in every way. The word exhibition does not actually have a definition in boxing except that it’s not going on a profession­al record,” Kavanaugh said. “The gloves are slightly a little bit more padded, but it’s like putting a roll of Kleenex in front of a moving truck. “When [ the CSAC] says ‘ the f ight is for fun’ … Tyson and Jones have made it clear it’s not for fun. The referee is there to make sure no one gets killed, Tyson doesn’t bite [ Jones’] ear off or break his arm.”

Foster wants the marketing dialed down a notch.

“I talked to Tyson and Jones at the same time and I trust that they are going to give me their word,” said Foster, a former f ighter who wants to guarantee safety for the quinquagen­arians. “Let’s be clear: I think they are going to hit each other some. I expect it to be a good, hard, boxing exhibition, but not like some kind of [ real fight].”

Tyson is set to earn $ 10 million and Jones will haul in about $ 3 million. They are maintainin­g that their f ight will be just as engaging as if they met at the turn of the century when they were on a collision course and four- division champion Jones was a heavyweigh­t king as well.

“I do not know what you’re talking about,” Tyson said in response to Foster’s statements. “What’s not a real fight? You got Mike Tyson and Roy Jones. I’m coming to f ight, and I hope he’s coming to fight.”

Jones ( 66- 9, 47 knockouts) backed up Tyson ( 50- 6, 44 KOs) after watching the former heavyweigh­t champion unleash explosive workout videos all year.

“Who goes into the ring with the great, legendary Mike Tyson and thinks, ‘ Oh, this is going to be an exhibition?’ ” Jones said. “Twelveounc­e gloves? No headgear? Really? This is an exhibition? Come on, man. Be for real.”

Tyson weighed 220.4 pounds and Jones stepped on the scale at 210 Friday at the downtown JW Marriott.

Three- time NBA slam dunk champion Nate Robinson and YouTube personalit­y Jake Paul will fight in the six- round co- feature; former world champion Badou Jack will be featured as well.

The pay- per- view will launch Triller’s live events business and Tyson’s latest venture in the sports startup Legends Only League. Twenty- one cameras and a 300- person crew will document the event. A 16- episode docuseries preceded it.

Former boxers Christy Martin, Vinny Pazienza and Chad Dawson will score the bout remotely, and a “Frontline Battle Belt” will be awarded.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States