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The legendary Mike tyson He returned to boxing at 54 with an intense exhibition match against the former heavyweight champion Roy jones jr., 51, who finished without a winner.
Fifteen years after his retirement, Tyson once again stepped into a ring at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, with no audience present due to the coronavirus pandemic, in a television production that combined curiosity and nostalgia.
Both boxers, especially Tyson, they left flashes of their old mighty sticks in a combat for charitable purposes from which they emerged without apparent major damage.
“This is better than fighting for the championships”Tyson assured. “Now we are humanitarian. We can do something good for the world. We have to do this again. “
Tyson, one of the most feared and controversial boxers in history, went from the first bell to the offensive against Jones Jr. who during the first rounds could not help but try to contain the fury of “Iron Mike”.
Given the high age of the fighters, the California State Athletic Commission had imposed a series of limitations on this fight, such as the reduction to eight two-minute rounds durability and the use of lighter gloves (12 ounces) that reduced the impact of blows.
By the middle of the fight, Jones Jr. was already showing signs of weariness while Tyson looked like he could keep fighting for a few more innings.
Despite the fact that Tyson was able to win the fight on points, a panel of judges of the World Boxing Council (WBC) decreed, as planned in advance, a tie that left this unofficial fight without a winner.
“I think I won but I agree with the draw because I entertained people, “Tyson said.
Instead Jones Jr., who constantly hugged Tyson to stop the fight, showed his disappointment with the result.
“I am never happy with a draw. I don’t draw, ”said Jones Jr., admitting that his rival especially punished him with blows to the body.
Tyson hits, Jones resists
Tyson, who ended his professional career with a record of 50 wins and 6 losses with 44 knockouts, lost about 45 kilos to prepare for the challenge against Jones Jr. (66-9), who was world champion in four categories.
Even though Jones Jr. had less downtime as he last fought in 2018, it was Tyson who started out much more aggressively, connecting a hard left blow to the head of his rival in the second round.
Tyson again landed a right hand to Jones Jr.’s head in the fifth round and a left punch in the sixth. On several occasions Tyson was stopped before he could chain one of his remembered withering combinations of punches.
In the eighth and final round, Tyson landed a pair of left hooks against the body of Jones Jr., who, already seeing the end, took his strength and ended the fight with an exchange of blows.
“I was very happy to reach the eight rounds”Tyson said. “I was afraid of getting hurt. Why doesn’t anyone care about my butt? I haven’t done this in 15 years. “
Tyson dominated the heavyweight division in the late 1980s but his career began to be cut short in the early 1990s after a shock loss to Buster Douglas, a rape conviction and two losses to Evander Holyfield, which included his controversial nibble on the ear of his rival.
In recent months Tyson has worked his body conscientiously, determined to redirect a life that has gone through all kinds of ups and downs, from achieving sporting glory to going through jail, drug addiction and financial ruin.
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