Fury: “I would love to fight Mike Tyson in an exhibition”
The reigning WBC heavyweight champion admitted he would like to fight boxing legend Mike Tyson if the Dillian Whyte fight doesn’t happen next December.
Over the last years, the fighting world has seen a new way of being profitable. The fascination of watching boxers taking on mixed martial artists or Internet celebrities has turned into millions of fans willing to watch those events, resulting in lots of money for promoters and contenders.
Back in 2017, boxing legend Floyd Mayweather faced UFC superstar Conor Mcgregor in a boxing event that topped $550 million. That fight, which ended with a TKO for Mayweather in the 10th round, kicked off, in a way, these kinds of spectacles, which have proven to be a successful product for the public.
However, the Mayweather-McGregor showdown was more competitive than many expected and both fighters could still deliver a high-level performance. But lately, we have witnessed some mismatches between boxers well past their primes or Youtube celebrities fighting veteran mixed martial artists.
Over the last months, many of these fights have taken place and have had great impact: Tyson vs Roy Jones Jr, Jake Paul vs Ben Askren/Tyron Woodley, Mayweather vs Logan Paul... And this weekend this trend continues with a Evander Holyfield (58) vs Vitor Belfort (45) fight.
Fury supports this kind of fights
Truth is some fans like these kinds of fights, while others absolutely deplore them. And the latest to admit that likes these kind of events is no other than Tyson Fury. The reigning WBC heavyweight champion admitted he would “love” to fight Mike Tyson in an exhibition bout if the Dillian Whyte fight cannot take place in December.
“I like all these fights happening. You’ve got Holyfield fighting Vitor Belfort this weekend. I’m looking forward to that”, he stated.
“If the Dillian Whyte fight doesn’t happen, then I would love to fight Mike in an exhibition. Tyson versus Tyson, past versus present, and there is just so much fun to have out there in this game”, he admitted.
Boxing fans who care about the sport have most likely given up asking when this will end and the question here, besides all the interest that these fights generate, is what if one of these old guys winds up getting badly hurt? What seems clear is that this trend is not going to end anytime soon.
Taking an exhibition bout between a real fight used to be a common practice, but would greats like Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, or Marvin Hagler, to name a few, take an exhibition bout in place of a big fight that fell through?