Former heavyweight force Mike Tyson has faced a big blow in his bid to nail down rematches with Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lews in 2021.
Tyson had revealed his desire to face not only Holyfield and Lewis this year but WBC champion Tyson Fury into the bargain.
Phase one is out as Holyfield has agreed to fight ex-Tyson conqueror Kevin McBride that fails to capture anyone’s imagination despite exhibition status.
The clash will take place on June 5th and accompany the Teofimo Lopez vs. George Kambosos Jr. IBF mandatory bout that Triller spent $6.2 million securing.
MIKE TYSON VOW
Mike Tyson is now out of the picture after leaving Triller. His Legends Only League will be his exclusive platform from now on.
He had outlined his plan on a recent taping of the Hotboxing Podcast.
“I want Holyfield, and I want Lennox Lewis this year. I want both of them. And I think I can beat them both this year.
“I (can) box an exhibition with Tyson Fury. “If I do that. Even if I can get those two guys, I’ll say this is a wrap. I can go and live my life. And that’s just exhibitions.
“I’m going to break all my true records with exhibitions,” he added.
EVANDER HOLYFIELD vs. KEVIN MCBRIDE
Holyfield vs. McBride represents where exhibition boxing can go wrong as both men head back into the ring for the first time in eleven long years.
Even then, the pair looked far worse than their heyday. It may not be as attractive to the fans to see how much more they have aged since then.
It’s no Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. – a fight that smashed elderly boxing records last year.
If this is where the sport heads, then Triller and others attempting to use this kind of event for swelling the market will not do themselves any favors.
Aged boxing bouts have to be specialized events. If they go down the path of bringing any lesser-name fighters into the mix, everything gets too diluted.
Is it worth the risk of a near sixty-year-old Holyfield taking on McBride, 47, when there’s no actual demand for that fight? – In a nutshell, no.
Phil Jay is the Editor of WBN. An Auxiliary member of the Boxing Writers Association of America since 2018. And a member of the Sports Journalists’ Association. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
