Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. fought to a draw in one of the most impressive performances from the two during their exhibition clash which took place at the Staples Center on Saturday night, November 28.
The American boxing legends met in an eight-round pay-per-view exhibition bout, billed as “Frontline Battle. The pair displayed their boxing skills, power, and athleticism despite Tyson being the aggressive fighter throughout the clash.
The fight was Tyson’s first since losing to Kevin McBride in 2005 in his last professional outing. While Jones returned to the ring, two years after he retired from the sport.
The unofficial judges for the clash were three boxing Hall of Famers; Christy Martin, Vinny Pazienza, and Chad Dawson.
Martin scored the fight: 79-73 (Tyson), Vinny Pazienza: 80-76 (Jones) and Chad Dawson: 76-76 (draw).
After the result was announced, Tyson said: “I’m good with that. I’m good with a draw, because I entertained the crowd, the crowed was happy with it.
“I’m used to doing it for three minutes, sometimes like two minutes or three minutes.
“I hope to go further, absolutely, and he can be on the car as well. I was very happy to be here, despite what everyone says I was happy to go to eight rounds.
“Nobody thought I could go eight rounds, but you’ve got to go the distance, that’s boxing.”
Despite the lack of action, the iconic former champions said they ready to fight another day.
Tyson said: “I’m used to doing it for three minutes, sometimes like two minutes or three minutes.’
“I hope to go further, absolutely, and he can be on the card as well. I was very happy to be here, despite what everyone says I was happy to go to eight rounds.
“Nobody thought I could go eight rounds, but you’ve got to go the distance, that’s boxing.”
Jones Jr adds: “We’ve got to do this again, everybody loves Mike, I love Mike too but it’s something else taking punches from Mike.
“I’ll go talk to my family, see how they feel about it and if they want to do it again, we’ll do it again.”
Jones responded: “We’ve got to do this again, everybody loves Mike, I love Mike too but it’s something else taking punches from Mike.
“I’ll go talk to my family, see how they feel about it and if they want to do it again, we’ll do it again.”
On the undercard, YouTube star Jake Paul delivered a sickening KO against former NBA star Nate Robinson.
Paul was fighting for the second time as a professional and dropped Robinson with his right hand.
