Mike Tyson Opens As Betting Favorite Over Roy Jones In Exhibition
By Jake Donovan
Published On Thu Jul 23, 2020, 07:46 PM EST
Early betting odds suggest that Roy Jones Jr. stood a better chance of beating Mike Tyson in a real fight 17 years ago than in a fake fight during present day.
With news of an exhibition match taking place between the legendary former champs, oddsmakers like the 54-year old Tyson to come out on top. The former undisputed heavyweight champion has opened at an eye-catching -350 betting favorite (bet $350 to win back an additional $100) by BetOnline.ag for their faux meeting, which is due to take place September 12 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Jones, who turned 51 in January, has been installed as a +275 underdog (bet $100 to win back an additional $275) for the spectacle, for which both retired boxers will wear 12 oz. gloves according to Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole.
Tyson (50-6, 44KOs) saw his 20-year career come to a close in June 2005, suffering a 6th round stoppage loss to fringe contender Kevin McBride. The former two-time heavyweight champion ended his career having been stopped in three of his last four contests, with a 1st round knockout of Clifford Ettiene bookended by knockout losses to then-World heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis (June 2002) and Danny Williams in July 2004.
By his own admission, Tyson didn’t box at all after the McBride debacle until 2006, when he entered a four-round charity exhibition match versus then-journeyman heavyweight Corey ‘T-Rex’ Sanders. The two met in an October 2006 event which aired live on independent Pay-Per-View from the Chevrolet Centre (now known as Covelli Centre) in Youngstown, Ohio.
A similar approach will be taken here. According to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, tentative plans call for the exhibition match to top a PPV event to be streamed live via music app Triller.
Wedged in between Tyson’s bouts with Ettiene and Williams was supposed to be a real fight with Jones (66-9, 47KOs) in 2003. The fighting pride of Pensacola, Florida was fresh off of a 12-round win over John Ruiz to win a heavyweight belt and become a four-division titlist when was in deep negotiations for a title defense versus Tyson. A clash with Evander Holyfield was also under consideration, though a PPV showdown versus Tyson was considered the far more sellable of the two—Tyson owned the four highest-grossing PPV events in boxing history at the time.
Given his heavyweight adventure, those who previously doubted Jones liked his chances of boxing to a decision over that version of Tyson. A deal couldn’t be reached, however, prompting Jones to drop back down to light heavyweight, scoring his last-ever win in a title fight. It came in November 2003, regaining his slew of belts in a 12-round majority decision over Antonio Tarver.
Their rematch six months later saw Jones—universally regarded as the best pound-for-pound boxer at the time, and at or close to number one dating back to his November 1994 boxing clinic of then-unbeaten James Toney—suffer the first knockout loss of his career as he was stopped in two rounds. It was the first of three straight losses, including a repeat defeat to Tarver via 12-round decision int their October 2005 rubber match.
Jones would fight for another 12 ½ years, going 17-5 over that stretch before calling it a career in February 2018. It ended on a high note, outpointing Scott Sigmon over 10 rounds in their February 2018 clash at the Pensacola Civic Center, where his legendary pro career began nearly 30 years prior.
The last time Jones entered any fight—real or otherwise—as a betting underdog came in May 2011, when he was at +400 for an eventual 10th round knockout loss to Denis Lebedev in Moscow, Russia. A 46-year old version of Jones came in as a slight betting favorite for his eventual 4th round knockout loss to former cruiserweight titlist Enzo Maccarinelli, who was 35 at the time of their December 2015 bout.
...this is really bad
