Mike Tyson Explains Changes

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Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson confirmed massive changes to his comeback fight against Roy Jones Jr. on Tuesday. According to TMZ Sports, Tyson believes the new date for the pay-per-view event will allow more of his fans to see the fight.

“Changing the date to November 28th will give more people the opportunity to see the biggest comeback in boxing history,” Tyson said per TMZ Sports. “This temporary inconvenience will last longer than Roy Jones Jr. He better be ready, I’m coming full force.”

The company behind the event, Triller, also told TMZ Sports that the move from September to November was made to accommodate the much larger audience than the promoters originally anticipated.

Triller said, “Given the enormous interest, the holiday weekend will make this historic battle an even bigger viewing event…marking the first live Pay-Per-View event brought to the world by Triller as the first of the ‘Triller Battles’ series.”

Tyson vs. Jones Jr. for Boxing Championship Belt

But Tyson announced several other major changes to the massive boxing pay-per-view event as well.

First, Tyson revealed an unnamed boxing sanctioning body would be part of the event which means that the fight would be sanctioned and scored by one of boxing’s recognized sanctioning bodies.

Furthermore, that sanctioning body, which could be one of the four major organizations in the sport (IBF, WBC, WBC or WBO), was revealed to be creating a special championship belt for the winner of the fight.

More Undercard Bouts Announced for Tyson vs. Jones Jr.

Finally, Tyson revealed to TMZ Sports the addition of two more undercard fights for the event.

Perhaps the most shocking thing about that part of the announcement was that the undercard is now set to include legitimate professional boxers competing in the prime of their careers.

Former two-division titleholder Badou Jack (22-2-2, 13 KOs) is taking on Blake McKernan (13-0, 6 KOs) on the card. Jack, 36, lost his light heavyweight title to Jean Pascal via split decision in December 2019.

According to TMZ Sports, Jack is competing on the card so he can donate a portion of his check to the Badou Jack Foundation to “continue to give kids across the globe a fighting chance in life.”

Also added to the event was Mayweather Promotions’ cruiserweight prospect Viddal Riley (4-0, 2 KOs), who will enter the ring against Rashad Coulter (1-0, 1 KO), a former UFC fighter who will hope to spoil the 23-year-old prospect’s plan to shine on the Tyson-Jones Jr. card.

Already announced was the bout between Youtuber Jake Paul and ex-NBA star Nate Robinson.

Despite Paul’s recent issues with the FBI, that fight is still set to go down as well and features a fascinating battle between a novice professional prizefighter Paul (1-0, 1 KO) and Robinson, a superb athlete who told Heavy he started training in the sport right after he signed up for the event.

So Tyson’s comeback fight against Jones Jr. just go a whole lot more interesting after the huge changes to the card, and more are sure to follow.

READ NEXT: Mike Tyson’s Next Opponent: 5 Fast Facts About Roy Jones Jr.

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