By Koffi Raphael
Mike Tyson has confirmed he will box again this year.
The former undisputed heavyweight champion returned to the ring in November 2020 for an exhibition bout with Roy Jones Jr.
Tyson’s clash with the former four-weight world champion ended in a draw, but the 54-year-old showed he’s still got it with a better-than-expected display.
And during a recent Instagram Live with Patrick Mouratoglou, the Hall-of-Fame boxer revealed he intends to take part in another exhibition later in the year.
When asked if he’ll lace up his gloves again, Tyson replied: “Yeah, absolutely. It’ll be better this time.”
Tyson, who retired from professional boxing in 2006, thoroughly enjoyed being back in the ring.
He added: “It was interesting. I felt really good, I felt confident. I felt that I could do it again.”
Tyson’s long-awaited return to the ring generated a staggering 1.6million pay-per-view buys and the success of his comeback fight has prompted several former fighters to express an interest in joining his Legends Only League.
He said: “We started Legends Only League and it’s really interesting.
“Once I announced that I was going to do my exhibition, everybody, all these other athletes all wanted to get involved in some way.
“Our first show was a record-breaker. Now everybody’s interested in being involved with our whole organisation.”
The biggest exhibition bout available to Tyson at this moment in time is a trilogy fight with former rival Evander Holyfield, who had his right ear bitten by Iron Mike in their 1997 rematch.
The pair are on good terms now, although Holyfield, also known as The Real Deal, would love to share the ring with his old foe again.
Last November, Holyfield said: “This is the fight that must happen for both our legacies.
“Saturday night you said you were ready to fight me, so sign the contract and get in the ring, Tyson. The world is waiting and it’s on you now. I’m ready.”
He added: “My side tried to make the fight happen and we got nothing but excuses.
“Now I can see why he wanted a tune-up fight before thinking about fighting me.
“Roy Jones was a good local opponent for Mike but a fight with me would be a global event and the only fight that anyone wants to see is a fight between us.
“There is absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t make it happen.”
