Mike Tyson Making A Comeback? Top Boxing Promoter Trying To Make It Happen
Mike Tyson continues to tease that he’ll be making a comeback to professional boxing. The former heavyweight champion has released multiple videos of himself training. Tyson ended his most recent post by saying, “I’m back.”
What does that mean for Tyson’s future in boxing? The 53-year-old appears to be, at the very least, exploring his options for a return.
Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn told British Boxing TV that Tyson’s camp contacted him about the possibility of getting the legendary fighter back inside the ring.
“They reached out to me,” Hearn said. “I had a call, a message, someone reached out to me and said, ‘I wanna talk about Mike.’”
It’s hard to believe that Tyson would be able to fight competitively against even decent heavyweights. Tyson last fought in 2006 when he was defeated by Kevin McBride, who would go on to lose six of his next eight bouts. Tyson hasn’t won a fight since 2003 when he was 36 years old.
That won’t necessarily stop Tyson from having another fight in some capacity. He’s been offered $1 million for a charity fight, according to The Daily Mail. A bare-knuckle fighting promoter told Heavy.com that he offered Tyson $20 million to face an opponent of his choosing.
Hearn is no stranger to non-traditional boxing matches. He promoted the fight between YouTube stars KSI and Logan Paul.
“I would like to see it. But I kind of feel like, and I know people will say ‘Well, you did the YouTube fight with KSI,’ but is it a bit irresponsible to let a 53-year-old legend get back in the ring?” Hearn asked, regarding a potential Tyson return.
“I don’t know. He looks pretty dangerous, but I think it’s just the fascination of could he actually go in at 53 and do some damage in the division? Maybe, maybe not.”
Several big-name boxers have competed well into their 40s. Roy Jones Jr. didn’t retire until two years ago when he fought at 49 years old. Bernard Hopkins lost the lightweight title as a 49-year-old and competed for the final time in 2016 at 51 years old.
“There’s a fine line, and I’ve crossed it a couple of times, sort of with the integrity of the sport versus entertainment and delivering numbers,” Hearn said.
“Our job is to deliver numbers for our broadcasters. But we have to try and keep it as close to the right mark as we possibly can.”
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