Mike Tyson: “watch what I’m going do” to Roy Jones Jr

By Rob Smith - 08/03/2020 - Comments

Hinting that he may go all out against Roy Jones Jr, Mike Tyson says he doesn’t want to get embarrassed in front of all the people that will be attending his eight-round exhibition match next month on September 12. The former IBF/WBA/WBC heavyweight champion ‘Iron’ Mike (50-6, 40

For Tyson to keep from being humiliated by Roy Jones, he’s going to have to unload on him with his full artillery.

Tyson lacks the boxing skills that Jones possesses, and if he tries to box, he’s liable to be clowned. Jones will dominate Tyson if he boxes him, so he can’t make that mistake.

Tyson doesn’t possess the stamina to mess around and box Jones for eight rounds. If he does that, Jones will wear him down, and knock him out by the fourth or fifth rounds.

When George Foreman fought Jimmy Young in 1977, he wasn’t going all out looking for the knockout. Foreman said he didn’t want to knock him out early.

Unfortunately for Foreman wore down and couldn’t score the knockout in the second half of the fight. Young was then able to take advantage of Foreman’s fatigue to beat him by a 12 round decision.

Tyson can’t make the same mistake Foreman did if he wants to beat Jones because he doesn’t possess the cardio to go eight rounds in a fast-paced fight.

Mike Tyson: "watch what I'm going do" to Roy Jones Jr

Tyson doesn’t want to be embarrassed

“My ego’s f***ing with me and I’m saying, “N****, you think you fly? You ain’t s***,” Mike Tyson said to Triller.

“An amateur can get in here and kick your a**, you better get on top of your game. You want to get embarrassed in front of these f***ing people?

‘Then the other ego says, “F*** you n***a, watch what I’m going do.”

“You don’t know what goes on up here,” Tyson in talking about the thoughts that are floating around his head as he prepares for the Jones Jr fight.

Tyson isn’t going to even consider taking it easy on Jones, and hopefully, the California State Athletic Commission members aren’t angry at the two when they go all out on September 12.

The 54-year-old Tyson sounds like he’s mentally been thinking about how the fight with the 51-year-old Jones will go if he decides to carry him for the full eight rounds.

It could go really badly for Tyson because he could lose. A loss for Tyson will make it difficult for him to fight in future exhibition matches.

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Size doesn’t matter says Jones Jr

“I don’t know. I haven’t done this in a long time,” said Jones Jr to ESPN when asked what he’ll weigh for the Mike Tyson fight. “I went from 217 to 208 after a few weeks of training.

“I’m hoping I’ll be 205 or 208. I may go a little bit lower. I don’t know. Maybe 225 or 230,” Jones said when asked how much do you think Tyson will weigh.

“I did it for John Ruiz, so I can do it again. It’s not a problem with the size. It’s not about the size of the dog in the fight. It’s about the fight in the dog.

“I’m willing to go to the end. They say there’s no headgear, then they say there’s headgear. I’d rather no headgear, yes because your head is a bigger target with headgear, and him being heavier with heavier hands, the more space he has to aim at, the better it is for him.

“If he grazes you, it’s still going to hurt because his hands are so big, and he’s so much bigger than you. If I have no headgear, if he grazes me, it’s going to miss.

“It’s not going to hit my head as much, so there’s not going to be nearly as much damage. Those little taps with headgear, over time, it’s still going to wear you down.

“That still bangs your brain. Without headgear, those slight misses are going to miss completely. With me, 51-years-old and him 54, eight rounds, 16-ounce gloves with no headgear, see what you do,” said Jones Jr.

With the power that Tyson has, he’ll knock Jones out if he lands one of his shots. It won’t matter that Tyson is wearing the 16-ounce gloves. He hits so hard that he’ll knockout Jones anyway.

Headgear not necessary 

“I think the people aren’t smart enough to understand what it really is,” said Jones when asked why they’re using 16-ounce gloves rather than 12-ounce.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbG4Q5suwEs

“They’re making it hard for me because 12-ounce gloves. That’s a fighting glove. 16-ounce gloves are more like a sparring glove. If you use 16-ounce, you don’t really got to use headgear.

“You don’t need headgear with 16-ounces. Twelve ounces, that’s still deadly with headgear or without headgear. I tried to tell them that, but they’re making the rules.

“I said, ‘Alright, whatever you say.’ For me, I’m just gracious to be the opponent to be in front of Mike Tyson because I wanted to fight Mike Tyson when I won the heavyweight title [in 2003].

“So for me, I’m like, ‘Yes, anything to get in front of Mike because I always wanted the opportunity, but you can only tell people so much.

“And I tried to tell them that 16-ounce gloves with no headgear is better than 12-ounce gloves with headgear. You understand me? 16-ounce gloves with no headgear is a lot less dangerous with 12-ounce gloves with headgear.

“The last I heard, no, but I don’t know,” said Roy Jr when asked if there will be headgear for the Tyson fight,” Jones continued.

If the headgear is going to make it even more difficult for Jones, then they shouldn’t be used. However, the California Commission are the one that is making the decision.

Roy kept himself in shape

“I was in decent shape because I was training my other fighters,” said Jones when asked what kind of physical condition he was in when he was told that he’d been picked to be Mike Tyson’s next opponent.

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“I’m never totally out of shape. I’m always in shape to where I can fight if I need to because I stay in the gym with my guys.

“So I was already in the gym moving around, doing things, and I’m often jog in the morning. So I wasn’t in horrible shape when I got the call.

“I thank God because if I was in horrible shape, I wouldn’t be able to ready myself by September 12,” Roy said.

Jones Jr has been working out with former IBO 168lb champion Chris Eubank Jr for the last five months, and that’s helped him stay in shape.

Being in shape may not help Roy take the huge blows from Tyson any better though. Jones’s best hope for taking Tyson’s shots is to limit the amount that connects, and that’s easier said than done.

Jones Jr is preparing for the best Tyson

“Incredible for Mike to be at that age and still moving that fast and still being that explosive and that powerful, he’s still Mike Tyson,” Roy Jr said. “That’s what I’m trying to tell people. So I’ve got to prepare like I’m fighting the Mike Tyson from 1989 because he’s still Mike Tyson.

“He may not be Mike Tyson for 12 rounds, but for six or seven, he still is. It didn’t surprise me [that Mike is still in shape] because it’s like riding a bike.

“As long as you’re mentally healthy, which he is, then it shouldn’t be a problem. You’ve got the muscle memory, so it shouldn’t be a problem.

“It doesn’t surprise me because if you look at me at, I’m 51, and I’m still as fast as I was when I was 47. This is the only one. The rest of them aren’t worth it,” said Jones Jr when asked if this is the only fight that he would come back for. I was done,” said Jones.

The 30-second video clips that Tyson has been posting on social media show that his power and hand speed are close to the level they were in his prime.

Mike Tyson: "watch what I'm going do" to Roy Jones Jr

It’s so hard to believe that the 54-year-old Tyson is still dangerous at his age. Jones has a lot of tricks up his sleeves, and he’ll need them all to keep from getting hurt in this fight.

Better late than never for Roy Jones Jr

“No, it’s not because you know what people always say to you?” Roy Jones Jr said. “People always say to me, ‘Man, do you know what would have happened had you and Mike Tyson been around in the social media era?

“Do you know the kind of money and attention that you would have generated?’ Well, guess what. We’re about to find out the kind of attention that we would have generated because God gave us that one opportunity to do it again.

“So now, we’ll finally find out what kind of money we would have generated because we got one opportunity to do it again.

“So how can you frown down on that again when that’s the one the constant complaints that you hear from people. ‘Man, can you imagine if you were around during the social media era?

“What you would have done?’ Guess what? We weren’t around, but we are around, and we’re just past our primes. But as Mike said, we still have bigger names than a lot of the guys boxing today,” said Jones Jr.

What’s unclear is if Tyson and Jones will pocket any of the money for their eight-round exhibition match. They say it’s a charity fight, but it’s still hard to believe Tyson and Jones would take the fight without getting paid.