Roy Jones Angered Over Delay in Mike Tyson Fight, Threatens Withdrawal
By
BoxingScene Staff
Published On Tue Aug 18, 2020, 08:13 PM EST
Former four division champion Roy Jones Jr. is not pleased with the unexpected delay to his planned pay-per-view exhibition clash with former undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.
Their bout was scheduled for September 12 in Carson, California.
But, last week it was announced that the organizers were pushing it back to November 28, in order to increase their potential in generating a significant pay-per-view buyrate figure.
According to Jones, the delay has cost him money - because he put his other working ventures to the side and took a pass on other gigs in order to set aside the training time for the fight with Tyson.
Jones believes that he should be compensated for the delay.
"I’ve had to cancel other stuff to be out here, it’s upset my calendar, I’ve got to change things. That’s why we have to table bullsh-t now. That’s the biggest issue, I’m not a full time boxer anymore so I do other things to make an income. If I can’t do other things then I should be compensated for that, because it changes the schematics. It’s not acceptable," Jones told Daily Mail.
"We’re trying to figure something out, my lawyers is talking with their lawyers, trying to figure out ways to make it a better situation so that I can compensated for it, that is more beneficial for me to do. If they don’t make it make sense, it (the fight) would be off.
"Why would I change the date and mess up the rest of my year when I agreed to September 12. They said they wanted to get a crowd, if you want to get a crowd, that’s a different type of money. If you want a big event, that’s a different type of money. You think I’m going to say, okay, let’s look at my money, but I’m not getting no better percent. How dumb is that to me? So let’s see what happens."
Jones, 51-years-old, has been retired since early 2018. Over the last few years Jones has been steadily increasing his presence as a trainer.
Tyson, 54-years-old, retired from the sport after suffering a stoppage loss to heavyweight journeyman Kevin McBride in 2005.