MY REASONS WHY MIKE TYSON AND ROY JONES JR. SHOULD NEVER FIGHT AGAIN (AND ONE REASON WHY THE LEGENDS ONLY LEAGUE SHOULD CONTINUE)

Last Saturday night, over 1.2 million of us watched two aging former champions beat each other up for 8 rounds. One of the men was 51-years-old, and the other was 54. Both men had absolutely no business doing what they were doing, but, like many of you, I was drawn to it. I was drawn to two heroes of my youth scraping it out like it was the mid-90s. Like a car wreck on the side of the highway, I didn’t want it to happen, but since it did, I had to look.

I didn’t feel good about watching this exhibition boxing match. I didn’t care who won. After the final bell rang, I was relieved. Not happy, not giddy, I didn’t want more, I was simply relieved. I feel a similar feeling every time I watch Washington QB Alex Smith get hit, I just want him to get up and be okay. For any non-sports fans, that’s not a good feeling. That feeling is not the reason why sports-fans like sports, and it’s not the reason true boxing fans like boxing.

So now that the fight between Iron Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. is done – and despite all the people that marveled at how good Mike looked (and he did look good – for a 54-year-old man), here are my 4 reasons why Mike and Roy should never get in the ring again.

Both men’s Hall of Fame legacies are secure: Look, I understand passion for the game (You’re reading this post from a Hungry Creek Streetball regular), but Mike Tyson is in the boxing Hall of Fame (Class of 2011), and Roy Jones is a sure-fire 1^st ballot Hall of Famer (He should already be in, but the dude never stops fighting long enough to start his clock). I’ve argued for years that Roy continuing to fight can’t hurt his legacy. He has done enough in his career to be 1^st ballot HOF no matter how long he continues to lace them up. But after watching Saturday night, fighting at 51 sure can’t help his legacy. I’ll get into exactly how Roy looked in the ring later in this post (spoiler alert – he looked tired), but he shouldn’t have been in the ring at all. Mike had more of a reason to want to fight. In his last fight, 15 years ago, he quit on the stand against a guy named Kevin McBride. Before the McBride fight, 16 years ago, Mike was KO’d by a guy named Danny Williams. Mike may have wanted another fight for his mental stability, but, as I previously mentioned, He’s already in the HOF, he doesn’t need any fight for his legacy.

No 51-year-old man should be fighting a 54-year old man in private – let alone public: We just had Thanksgiving, and I know most of your Thanksgiving dinners were different this year due to COVID (at least, I hope they were – wear a mask – stay home, stay safe), but think back a few years ago. If one of your 50-plus-year old uncle or cousin had too much to drink and wanted to scrap, everyone in their right mind at the dinner table would have told him to knock it off and sit his (you know what) down. Nobody wants to see a drunk 50 (plus) year-old man fighting. This applies to Mike and Roy. Mike was not drunk, though he did admit he was medicated. (I can’t even say Mike was high because Mike doesn’t smoke to get high – he smokes to numb his nerves.) Regardless, no boxing governing body would give Mike or Roy a legit license to fight (nor should they) so they invented the Legends Only League, and held this exhibition. I give them points for innovation, but the fact remains, while most of you were looking for a knockout, my heart was in my throat praying that neither one of them had a heart attack. No fan should be actively rooting for a fighter not to collapse due to fatigue  – that was me on Saturday night – starting in round 2.

Can we talk about Roy’s conditioning: Roy Jones Jr. (in his prime) was my all-time favorite fighter. If you’ve never seen him – in his prime – go back and look at YouTube footage of Roy. He was brilliant. I loved everything about him. I loved his in-ring skills. I loved the showman antics, too. I was in awe of him every time he stepped in the ring. And then, after beating everyone he could beat at super middleweight and light heavyweight, after going to heavyweight and beating a champion in John Ruiz, after going back down to light heavyweight and inking out a win against Antonio Tarver in the first fight, the second Tarver fight happened, and Roy was knocked out cold. That was it. That was the end of Roy’s career as we knew it, the Tarver KO. That fight was in 2004. (I repeat – 2004!) Roy continued to professionally until 3 years ago, but he often looked bad. Last Saturday, Roy looked really bad. He just looked tired. He looked tired after the first round (2-minute rounds by the way – not the normal 3 minutes of a standard pro fight). Roy looked so tired by round 3 that I thought Mike was going to KO him with any landed punch. Roy survived the 8 rounds, but those 8 rounds should be the last rounds he ever fights. He was spent, and lucky to have his health in check after the fight.

Who else can Tyson really fight? If this fight proved anything – it is that Mike Tyson is still the most interesting man in boxing. It’s not Mayweather, De La Hoya, or Canelo, it’s Tyson. Roy Jones Jr. is one of the greatest fighters of all-time, and he was an afterthought in the promotion of Mike Tyson’s return to the ring. Mike was in great shape. He lost over 100 pounds for his health, and this fight. But let’s face it, who else can Tyson fight? Roy was the perfect opponent. Everyone else on Mike’s list is really in their mid-to-late 50s or older. Mike vs. a 58-year-old Holyfield? Mike vs. a 55-year-old Lennox Lewis? No. Let’s knock it off. I’m certain that Mike will find someone to fight – Shannon Briggs is always around – but he shouldn’t. Mike should really end it. He has nothing to prove, and no one else worth fighting.

Let’s face it, there is only one reason that I would want to see anything from the newly formed Legends Only League — that reason is Snoop Dogg. That’s right Snoop to the D – O – double G, was on commentary for the Tyson v. Jones fight, and he was brilliant. He was quick. He was funny. He was excited. He got me excited. He was the best part of the night. I need Uncle Snoop to get a contract with either Showtime or ESPN because he was great. We need more Snoop. #WESEEIT