"Ridiculous!" This is how Iron Mike Tyson responded to rumors that he was coming back into the ring.
Tyson, who is set to turn 49 later this month, was being linked to a possible return bout with another old timer in James Toney.
Like Tyson, Toney is no spring chicken. He will be turning 47 next month and judging by their ages a supposed fight may find it hard to get the proper sanctioning from any state.
Tyson made the announcement via his Twitter account capped with the hastags #rumor #ridiculous.
It has been 10 years since Tyson last put on a pair of boxing gloves. His last match was a TKO loss at the hands of Kevin McBride, his second consecutive KO defeat that eventually forced him into retirement. Tyson has a 50-6-0 boxing record 44 via knockout.
Meanwhile, James Toney hasn’t fought since 2013. He lost a majority three-round decision to Jason Gavern in the semifinal round of a Prizefighter Heavyweight tournament held in London.
Apparently, the month of June offers forgettable memories as far as Iron Mike’s career is concerned.
On June 8, 2002, Tyson lost to Lennox Lewis by knockout in the 8th round while the other was his last match against McBride where he lost by TKO in the 6th round held in June 11, 2005. In between those two losses was a lone KO win in the first round against Clifford Etienne (February 22, 2003) and another loss at the hands of another Briton, Danny Williams (knockout in the 4th round) on July 30, 2004.
After starting off his career on a fiery note, Tyson’s reign ended with a shocking loss to James Buster Douglas on February 11, 1990 which he lost via 10th round knockout. Though he was able to string up 8 consecutive wins after that loss, things just took a turn for the worst after he faced off against Evander Holyfield.
Toney has been around and has incrementally moved up into boxing divisions. As far as is heavyweight class is concerned, a highlight was his victory over an aging Holyfield on October 4, 2003.
He has been considered retired since his loss to Jason Gavern in November 14, 2013 though he did mention before that he wanted to possibly face Iron Mike (Tyson).
With Tyson confirming that these rumors are sending wrong signals, seeing both fighters in the ring at this stage does indeed seem ridiculous. And as one scribe pointed out, these guys would be luck to make it past the third round if ever it would somehow materialize.