By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing
Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum thinks an exhibition charity bout between Mike Tyson and WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury could do well on pay-per-view. “I think it could do a lot of pay-per-view business,” Arum told Deadspin. “But would I want to bet on it by putting up my own money? No way. Millions of people are unemployed. Would they be willing to spend $80 to watch a 50-year-old man perform in the ring? I have my doubts. Without the backing of a site fee, I don’t think it’s possible.
“I would entertain the idea of Tyson Fury fighting an exhibition against Tyson if the money was going to a legitimate charity,” Arum said. “I wouldn’t finance it. I would put sweat equity into it. I think it would be good for Tyson.”
Great fun, i’d pay, hopefully they find a worthy cause, there’s so many in need. As long as Fury doesn’t take it seriously. If he does he’ll spoil it by embarrassing Mike. Over 30 years ago no, now definitely
Arum has been doing this a long time, so he knows things that I don’t, but it’s hard to imagine an exhibition bout selling much on PPV. If it is in fact for charity, and they can come up with a good enough cause, that might be more of a selling point than the “fight” itself.
As far as how this exhibition fight might go….keep in mind that Fury has a ton of admiration for Mike. Wouldn’t be shocked if Fury laid down at some point and allowed himself to be counted out. It wouldn’t be a blemish on his record, and would be seen as a good gesture.
Why not have Mike fight a guy ranked in the bottom 10% of boxrec’s current rankings? Let both of them get a decent payday. Got to respect those club fighters that keep the sport alive.
Bob Arum should know Tyson is always a sure bet to make money. He could fight Dennis Rodman and sell PPV
Arum has made some good points. This stagnant economy is a tight rope to walk right now for extra curricular activities such as PPV for example. Truthfully, I worry at times over this recovery and I hope everyone on here gets back to normalcy in your own lives. No kidding. I have been in healthcare for many years and have never seen anything like this.
Fightnews reported that this past weekend’s UFC card had 700,000 buys
Wonder how many folks watched it free via hacked uploads? LOL
Anything in boxing involving Mike Tyson could do well in PPV or streaming, but under normal circumstances. Sadly, this idea came out too late, because who would have thought we could be like this in 2020?. I don’t believe Tyson could be able to box for real again, because one thing is to look ferocious for couple minutes on the pads, where no harm comes in return and another very different where an opponent will be throwing at him too during 3 minutes rounds. But nonetheless, he could be attractive in exhibition matches.
Tyson’s exhibition against Corey Sanders back in 2006 was supposed to be the beginning of a World Tour of exhibition fights for him, but it was scrapped after one fight due to a lack of interest. Not sure why it would be any different this time, unless the plan is for it to be a one & done thing. I would imagine that this is an exciting time for Mike though, with the idea gaining a little momentum, but this will certainly end up being a dud. Might be fun for Mike though, and some of the sentimental fans of his, if the situation is right.
I though Deadspin died?
I really hope Tyson doesn’t really think he can fight again against top opponents. I mean exhibitions, maybe, but that’s about it. The promotion if it does happen, will be much better than the fight itself. I mean think of how the promotion will go, “Mike Tyson, Youngest Heavyweight Champion in Boxing History, most dangerous puncher in all of sport, etc etc etc”. See where I’m going with this? It’s every promoters dream to make money of something like this. #DontDoItMike
Excellent points. Thank you Arturo.
If he fought a big name mma fighter on the down slide I think the chances of it selling would be better and he would have a chance under boxing rules. Fedor or arlovsky possibly. He can’t beat anyone who can box and it would probably be so embarrassing that it would be the end of this experiment. I think fedor is the way to go. People are intrigued by these matchups and it gives him a shot at 2 or more paydays. Good promotion can make you a ton of money, ask Floyd and Connor.
A Mike Tyson exhibition against a name MMA heavyweight would do HUGE business, and should be pretty easy to make It’s a great idea.
I can put sweat equity into this as well Bob. It dont make me a promoter.
Stop it already.
Bring in sylvester stallone to choreograph it like a pre filmed Rocky movie match or a short film for the fans between tyson and fury and make it a great fight which seems real but isnt and call the whole show like the real deal from the flyers to the outcome with sly as the ref and filled with boxing personalities
Id pay to see it for sure
What a ridiculous mismatch! Mike is old, for boxing, Mike is real old. To make it worse, Fury was so large in his last fight the UFC would not have let him fight.
Instead, pick on of Mile’s old rivals and have a fun go of it… A 53 year old Mike should not be in the ring with Fury.
Im speak often against PED use, especially amongst today’s elite. However, I’m looking the other way on this one. IF Mike is taking this serious, let him Juice through the gills and let’s make an exception for him. Fuck it. A few cycles of GHB and EPO would have amazing results for Tyson. Let’s go CHAMP.
50s are the new 40s and i just want him to kick the crap out of some millenials.
The Clash of the Tysons
I don’t think Tyson’s motivations for wanting to get back in the ring are financial because I think he’s doing very well with his weed farm. The sad fact of the matter is however, life after boxing is not kind to a lot of fighters. This weekend I read two articles about two different heavyweight fringe contenders who fought in the 80’s and 90’s and suffered very similiar fates. James Broad and Franco Wanyama were both Olympians (Broad was on the US 1980 team that boycotted and Wanyama represented Uganda on the 1988 team) both had some degree of success as professionals but were unable to secure any title shots or big paydays, and most damaging-both served as paid sparring partners at the end of their careers , Broad for Mike Tyson and Wanyama for the Kiltsko Brothers. They took huge shots to the head day in and day out to earn a living. Both died in their 40’s, severly brain damaged. Broad died homeless in Vegas in 2001 while Wanyama died in 2019 in a homeless shelter in Belgium. I watched both of these guys fight during their careers and didn’t know either had died. So many boxers have similiar stories and serves as a reminder how brutal the sport is.
Tyson was winning both of his last two fights before he gassed out. He was dominating Danny Williams until he twisted his knee.