Tyson, Roy get OK for ‘exhibition’

Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. got permission from California’s athletic commission to return to the boxing ring next month because their fight would be strictly an exhibition of their once-unparalleled skills.

These 50-something former champions still say they’re taking this showdown far more seriously than any exhibition.

“Not a real fight? We got Mike Tyson versus Roy Jones,” Tyson said Thursday in an online press conference. “I’m coming to fight, and I hope he’s coming to fight, and that’s all you need to know.”

Promoters of the pay-per-view spectacle announced that Los Angeles’ Staples Center will be the site of the 54-year-old Tyson’s return to boxing on Nov. 28 for an eight-round main event against the 51-year-old Jones.

Tyson’s last official bout was in June 2005, and the former undisputed heavyweight champion hasn’t held a title since 1996. Jones fought steadily through his 40s, long after his super middleweight and light heavyweight title reigns had ended, with his most recent bout in February 2018.

BREWERS DECLINE BRAUN’S OPTION

The Brewers have declined to exercise a $15 million mutual 2021 option on veteran outfielder Ryan Braun as the franchise’s career home run leader ponders whether to continue playing.

Braun is due a $4 million buyout.

The 37-year-old often said this might be his final season. He has spent his entire career in Milwaukee and has a franchise-record 352 career home runs.

BU’S TRAVIS ROY DIES AT 45

Travis Roy, the Boston University hockey player who was paralyzed 11 seconds into his first college shift and went on to be a motivational speaker and advocate for spinal chord injury survivors, has died. He was 45.

Roy was a 20-year-old freshman making his debut for the reigning NCAA champions in the 1995-96 season opener when he crashed headfirst into the boards after checking a North Dakota opponent.

The accident left him a quadriplegic.