This is Rummy’s Corner.
So it has been about a week since the exhibition between Iron Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr.
I won’t lie.
I was conflicted over this exhibition bout.
I had some reservations about two guys in their 50s engaging in this type of thing,
and I was concerned about the well being of these two living legends in boxing history.
Despite these reservations, however, there was no way I wasn’t going to tune in.
When I actually made the purchase on my cable box a few hours beforehand, I confess, I was
far more fired-up than I would have expected.
The whole idea of ordering a Mike Tyson fight on PPV - something I had done so many times
previously, there was an element of excitement that exuded a strong flavor of nostalgia.
Holy shit!
Mike Tyson was actually going to be competing, and I was actually paying for it, even if
it was just an exhibition bout.
Just buying the event reminded me of all those Tyson fights I had ordered in what almost
feels like another lifetime.
Then seeing Tyson enter the ring, it was simply surreal.
I don’t know how else to describe it.
In that moment, it quite literally was like reliving a part of my childhood and my younger
years as an adult.
I was expecting a light sparring match between two older warriors, something not unlike the
exhibition bout Mike had with T-Rex Sanders after he retired.
My biggest fear was that someone would get seriously injured, which would have been a
black eye for the sport.
But at the end of the day, it wound up being a far more heated engagement than what I was
expecting.
While I don’t think either guy was trying to knock the other’s head off, they were
both throwing some solid punches.
This wasn’t the glorified light sparring session I was fully expecting.
And over the course of this exhibition, I thought we actually saw some glimpses of what
made Tyson and Jones such special prizefighters in their day.
Personally, I was amazed by some of what I saw.
Almost every round, Tyson came out bobbing and weaving and trying to show that vintage
Tyson style that enabled him to become the youngest boxer in history to capture a portion
of the heavyweight championship.
He was targeting the body, and giving us hints of what was once there.
Same for Roy.
He still showed flashes of that sneaky style that relied on tremendous reflexes and hand
speed.
And with Mike, I swear he seemed more mentally focused than he had been throughout most of
his second career, trying to do a lot of those little things he did so well in the 80s, but
started neglecting in the 90s.
Now obviously they were both breathing heavy, and they are obviously both far removed from
what defined their greatness.
But at their ages?
I was fucking impressed by what I saw, and it was clear to me that both Mike and Roy
wanted to perform as well as they are capable of at this time.
And in that sense, I thought both of their efforts were nothing short of tremendous.
Neither man embarrassed himself, they both came in well prepared, and they put on a pretty
decent show all things considered.
Indeed, this little exhibition perhaps gave us a little insight into how these two guys
might have approached a showdown had they met back in 2003.
That was after Roy had beaten John Ruiz for the WBA heavyweight belt, and Tyson was still
a big name at that time and a top contender.
It never came together, but at that time it would have been an intriguing battle.
Tyson was well past his best, but he was still fast and powerful and explosive.
Roy was still nearer to being in his prime, but he was not a natural heavyweight, and
despite his amazing effort against Ruiz, there were always question marks about what would
happen if Roy got clipped by a powerful punching heavyweight.
We’ll never know for sure what would have happened in 2003, but this exhibition certainly
adds some depth to the “what if?”
proposition.
At the end of the night, the one thing that totally sold me on this being a worthwhile
exercise was seeing the joy in Tyson’s face during the post fight interview.
That alone made the purchase worthwhile to me.
Now maybe they should have given these guys a few minutes to catch their breath before
they began these interviews, but the post fight interview definitely provided a touching
memorable moment.
I went into this thing thinking that Tyson and Jones were simply trying to relive their
glory days, a desire for both of them to re-experience the one thing they both did so well in their
respective primes . But what I didn’t realize until after the fact, was that it would also
help fans like me recapture a part of our youth.
Because in a very real way, it brought back so many wonderful memories of watching these
two living legends back when they were among the elite of the elite in professional boxing.
In that sense, it helped me relive the glory days of being a boxing fan at that time.
I genuinely believe that this exhibition went as well as can reasonably have been expected,
and I applaud Mike and Roy for what I believe were admirable efforts.
I thoroughly enjoyed the show.
So what did you think of the Tyson-Jones exhibition?
Please share your thoughts in the comment section.
Thanks for watching everyone, I hope you enjoyed, and have a wonderful night.
This is Rummy’s Corner.