Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr will be stepping back into the ring but under a very different rule set from the regular boxing bout on Saturday night in California as the two boxing greats lock horns.
The duo will not be allowed to knock each other out when they face off in the eight round contest that would feature no judges and no winner announced.
Tyson 54 and Jones Jr 51 do not have to wear protective headgear but will wear 12oz gloves, bigger than the usual gloves worn in elite boxing.
If either man is cut, the bout is immediately over.
UFC president Dana White’s gave a baffled reaction to the rules set up by the California commission: “There’s no knockouts? They’re not allowed to knock each other out?
“How do you enforce that?”
“If it comes down to bite, we’re going to bite. Jones Jr told Sky Sports earlier this year, “Whatever has to happen, is going to happen, that’s just what it is.
“He’s still Mike Tyson, he’s still one of the strongest, most explosive people who ever touched a boxing ring. If anything, I made a mistake going in with him. He’s the bigger guy, he’s the explosive guy.
“He’s going to have all the first-round fireworks, not me. I do have first-round fireworks, but he’s known for more first-round fireworks than anybody to ever touch boxing, other than maybe George Foreman.
“With him having the first-round fireworks, he’ll be against a guy smaller than him, maybe 40-50 pounds smaller than him.”
Ahead of the bout, “Numbers don’t lie,” said Mike Tyson, responding to the news on Twitter. “Haters are mad they can’t get numbers like this. Saturday is reckoning. @RealRoyJonesJr you better be ready.”
