Mike Tyson Vs. Roy Jones Jr. Exhibition Fight Rules, Odds Revealed

After a long wait, the Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. exhibition fight will finally take place on Nov. 28. The eight-round clash will take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The showdown should serve as an interesting event to check out this Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Tyson will step back into the ring after over a decade.

He last set foot in the ring in 2005 when he faced Kevin McBride at the MCI Center in Washington D.C. The Brooklyn native lost to his opponent when he quit before the start of the seventh round.

As for Jones, his last fight was two years ago against Scott Sigmon. He won the vacant WBU cruiserweight title via unanimous decision. He would retire after that fight.

There is no question that both Tyson and Jones are beasts in the ring. But since this is merely an exhibition, it will be more of entertainment rather than seeing a couple of over-the-hill fighters trying to take each other’s heads off.

But based on how Tyson and Jones have been preparing, both are determined to come out victorious. However, there seems to be some confusion when the California State Athletic Commission released the set of rules for the encounter.

Rather than an actual sanctioned fight, it will be treated as an exhibition, MMA Fighting reported.

“Let’s call it an exhibition. That’s what it is,” executive officer Andy Foster said. “I want the public to know what this is because I don’t want people to be disappointed. As long as they know this is an exhibition, I’m fine for everybody to earn.”

Here are some things to consider. Instead of official judges, guest celebrity judges will be remotely tasked to score the fight. Hence, there will be no cumulative scores and no winner will be declared according to Foster.

“There’s no winner going to be announced,” Foster said. “I do think that’s very important to get out there. The unofficial scores are for entertainment only and that’s done by the WBC remotely. Not by the commission cause the commission didn’t credential those judges because of COVID. It’s for entertainment purposes only. There’s no official winner at the end of this.”

Some other things to expect:

• The fight will be for eight rounds at two minutes each
• No headgear will be worn by either boxer
• Both boxers will wear 12-ounce gloves
• If one of the boxers suffers a bad cut, the fight is over

Initially, Jones was the favorite to prevail with a -135 rating, compared to Tyson’s -105 according to Oddsharks. However, those have now changed. Tyson is now the -200 favorite to prevail over Jones’ +160.

The Tyson vs. Jones fight can be watched via live stream at TysonOnThriller.com or via paid subscription on FITE TV starting at 10:00 p.m. E.T. on Nov. 28. There will be four main cards and three preliminary cards for the said event.