Former boxing greats Roy Jones Jr and Mike Tyson went at it for eight rounds in an exhibition match on Saturday night that was scored an eight-round draw by the three celebrity judges in their match at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
Unfortunately, the judges didn’t give any scores for the fight, so we’re left to guess what they were.
Roy Jones was bothered by the body shots that Tyson was throwing at him, and he looked gassed in the later rounds.
The rounds were two minutes long, and the glove size was 12 oz rather than 10.
“I’m used to doing this for three minutes, but sometimes those two minutes felt like three minutes,” said Tyson.
The boxing fans on social media saw it as a slam dunk win for 54-year-old Tyson, who looked in better physical shape, showed superior power, speed, and talent than Jones.
Skillwise, it was a mismatch. Tyson was the far better and more powerful fighter of the two. But given that this was an exhibition match that wasn’t supposed to have a winner when it was first put together, it’s not unexpected that the judges scored it a draw.
“I’m good with a draw,” said Mike Tyson.
If they had scored it for Jones, they might have messed up future pay-per-view events for Tyson in the state of California. A loss to Jones Jr would likely have impacted Tyson’s future pay-per-view sales.
Many boxing fans won’t buy any of Tyson’s future fights because there very little entertainment value for the $50 that fans paid.
I mean, Jones Jr did nothing but clinch and move and look scared. For his part, Tyson was throwing many body punches, which is not normal for him.
During Tyson’s career, he was a headhunter who only rarely threw body shots. Tonight, we saw many body shots from Tyson, and it looked like he was making sure he didn’t knock out Jones and upset the California State Athletic Commission.
“The body shots definitely took a toll,” Jones said. “The body shots are what make you exhausted. I knew that. I had a six-pack, but I think I needed a 12-pack.”
The undercard was a mixed bag of fights that only the most hardcore boxing fans would love. The only fight I liked on the entire card, including the main event between Tyson and Jones, is a match between YouTuber Jake Paul and NBA star Nate Robinson. Now that was a fun fight.
Paul dropped Robinson in the first and twice in the second in scoring a vicious second-round knockout.
In one of the bad fights, Badou Jack (23-3-3, 13 KOs) defeated Blake McKernan (13-1, 6 KOs) by an eight-round decision. In some ways, that fight was similar to the main event with Badou chasing McKerman around the ring.