Yahoo Finance Mike Tyson return to the ring at the age of 54 is the ultimate fight folly
The last scene in the recently released documentary of Lennox Lewis’ career sees Mike Tyson take to the stage at a tribute night to his former rival.
Tyson talks effusively about the parallels between their two lives: coming through their respective childhood adversities, Olympic defeats at amateur level before their ascent in the pro ranks capped by their eventual fight in 2002.
Since stopping Tyson in eight rounds, Lewis fought just once since, defeating Vitali Klitschko before retiring eight months later.
And in the film, at 55, Lewis looks entirely at peace with having turned his back on the ring to instead focus on his family. In contrast, Tyson is still at it.
After losing to Lewis, he fought on three more occasions – losing two of them – and this weekend returns to the ring 15 years on from his last fight to take on Roy Jones Jr.
In a sport where boxers eternally fight on well beyond their years and sensibilities, Tyson’s decision appears to be the ultimate fight folly.
Much has supposedly been done to mitigate any negative repercussions in the ring, the bout reduced to eight rounds each just two minutes long, with mixed reports that knockouts are banned and no winner will be declared come the end of the night.
But all it takes is for one heavy punch – and footage from Tyson’s sparring sessions has shown at 54 that he is more than capable of delivering that – for a bleak footnote to those eight rounds.
Daniel Dubois, in his own heavyweight battle against Joe Joyce this weekend, cringed at the prospect of watching his idol but said he would watch nonetheless… through his hands.
Promoter Eddie Hearn, meanwhile, admitted the fight would be uncomfortable viewing.
“As a fight fan seeing a great like that needing to come back at this age, I don’t think it sits great with me,” he said. “You want to remember him with those pictures we saw with that massive thick neck, those fast hands. That’s what you want to remember about Mike Tyson.”
Come the final bell, perhaps those iconic images will remain but the permutations are too risky for this surely to ever have been contemplated even if it is supposedly just an exhibition.
Tyson reportedly knocked a sparring partner’s teeth out recently, hardly the mark of a man coming back for a mere exhibition.
The hope is that Jones Jr, such a quick, elegant fighter in his pomp, still has the speed and guile to evade such punches at the age of 51.
Thankfully for Lewis, the sight of Tyson back fighting has not reignited a desire in himself to step back into the ring while withholding any criticism of the fight.
“I think it’s an interesting fight,” he said. “They’re doing it for charity – that’s a good thing. Everybody loves Mike Tyson. Everybody loves Roy Jones. They just want them back in the ring again. It’s not a bad thing. At this age, I actually think it’s good that he can push himself to step back into the ring.”
The ultimate hope this weekend is that it doesn’t prove a step too far for either man.
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