By Koffi Raphael
Mike Tyson has spent months preparing for his return to the ring and is set to be paid handsomely for it regardless of the result.
The 54-year-old boxing legend will earn $10 million for his fight against Roy Jones Jr. on Saturday night, Yahoo Sports reported – quite a pay day for what the executive director of the California State Athletic Commission, Andy Foster, has previously described as a “hard sparring session.”
Jones Jr., 51, will make around $3 million, according to the report. Boxing journalist Dan Rafael also reported that Jones’ guarantee is $1 million.
Tyson previously claimed that he would be donating money from the fight to charity.
“It’s going to be for various charities, so nobody’s gonna have to worry about me getting rich or being jealous and saying I’m doing this for money,” Tyson said on TMZ Live in July. “I’m not getting anything and I just feel good doing this because I can.”
The exhibition bout, which will be broadcast on pay-per-view from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, will bring two of the accomplished boxers of their time together in the ring. But there will be no official judges and no winner announced, Foster told MMA Fighting.
Former world heavyweight champion Tyson, will be fighting for the first time in 15 years when he meets four-division world champion Jones, 51, at the Staples Center on November 28.
“Anything I do, I put so much into it. If I fail, I’m going to die,” Tyson said in a recent Instagram video. “How many people do that? That’s what I like to do. I go all out. I play for keeps.
“You know, I’m the greatest fighter since the conception of God.”
