Roy Jones Jr. has revealed how much weight he expects to give up when the former pound-for-pound king takes on Mike Tyson next month.
‘RJJ’ faces a beast of a man in Tyson, who at 54 still strikes fear into the hearts of many a fighter.
Agreeing to a deal when Tyson’s team contacted him about a potential exhibition, Jones confirmed there was never any way he’d say no – despite a gulf in poundage.
Roy Jones Jr
Speaking to The Luke Thomas Show on SiriusXM Fight Nation, Jones stated: “His people called me. They said, ‘give us a call – so I called them back. They said: ‘Tyson might want to do an exhibition fight with and He wants you as the opponent.’
“I was like, wait; he wants me?
“So, I said let me see if we can do this. Let me think about it and let me talk to my family. Let’s see what happens.
“We started talking, and eventually, we signed what I consider a decent deal for the fight. They called me back and said let’s hit it, and I said alright.
“It’s never been hard to make a fight with me. If you want to fight, I’m ready. I am one guy that you can say it’s never been hard to make a fight with.
“I’m fighting Tyson at 30 or 40 pounds (weight difference) because he said he wanted to fight me. But I’m never going to say no.
“I am fully retired but am not saying no to Mike Tyson,” he added.
Tyson vs Jones
Fears have already grown for the safety of Jones against Tyson, who looks to be in tremendous shape and hitting as hard as ever.
On the flip side, there are more realistic expectations that Jones can combat Tyson with his superior speed. There’s also the fact that Tyson hasn’t fought for fifteen years to take into account.
For his part, Jones last competed professionally in 2018. He could have Tyson blowing pretty hard if he can prove too elusive early on.
Whatever happens, there’s big money to be made. The fight will generate a tidy nine-figure sum if Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr sells at least two million worldwide Pay-Per-Views.
Huge business for two legends of the sport.
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