Mike Tyson’s comeback bothers UFC president Dana White, who would prefer that the 53-year-old former heavyweight champion stay retired. Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs) is in the planning stage for a comeback to fight some exhibition matches for charity.
Tyson has wowed the entire world with the workout clips of him hitting the mitts with his coach. Fans saw the work, noticed the blazing speed and power from Tyson, and they feel he’s got what it takes to beat some of the top fighters in the division. Some fans even think Tyson can capture a world title at 53 if given a chance.
White is a big fan of former IBF/WBA/WBC heavyweight champion Tyson, and he doesn’t want anything to happen to him in his comeback.
Tyson’s first opponent could be 48-year-old former WBO heavyweight champion Shannon ‘The Cannon’ Briggs, who is a big puncher and still looks in great shape. 57-year-old Evander Holyfield is also a name that has been mentioned as a potential opponent for Tyson.
Dana White begging Mike Tyson not to fight
“I love Mike Tyson. I love the guy. He was one of my guys that I looked up to growing up,” said White to Sportsnet. “I’ve always been a huge fan of his and all that stuff, and he and I have become very good friends.”
“And I’m begging him not to go fight. I’m begging him. I said, ‘You look awesome, you’re still explosive, you’re obviously still powerful. You’re one of the all-time greats, [but] Mike, you’re 53. Please don’t do it.’ We’ll see what happens.”
It’s not likely that Tyson is going to give up on his idea of returning for charity or whatever his ultimate goal is. If it’s to make endorsement money, we could see that if Tyson looks good in his exhibition matches. He’ll have no shortage of famous former world champions that he can choose from to fight. Besides Briggs, the following heavyweights could be on their journey for exhibition matches:
- James Toney
- Oliver McCall
- Evander Holyfield
White might jump in to stop Tyson from fighting
“I don’t want Mike to fight, and if it comes down to where he’s about to do something crazy, I might have to jump in and, I don’t know, figure out something for him not to do it,” said White on Tyson.
How on earth would White stop Tyson from fighting his exhibition matches? Short of giving Tyson a job, what could White do to stop him from coming back? What could Tyson do with the UFC? It would be interesting to see what White comes up to keep Tyson from fighting.
