By Norm Frauenheim—
It’s not exactly clear what Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. will be doing Saturday night. Best guess: It’s part boxing, part nostalgia and mostly frivolous.
But the circus never loses its appeal, especially if the pay-per-view money buys a few laughs. Not enough of those these days. Twelve-ounce gloves, eight two-minute rounds, and no official winner, all for $49.95.
The California State Athletic Commission also has included no knockouts in rules and regs for an exhibition that might have been a cellar fight, so-called during an era when boxing was mostly an underworld pursuit.
The no-KO rule sounds like a necessary precaution — the legal fine print perhaps — for a couple of legends who are a couple of decades beyond their head-knocking best. Tyson is 54, Jones 51. But the KO prohibition is also absolutely ridiculous, especially for Tyson, whose feared identity has always been defined by scary power.
No KO chance, no real drama, fewer PPV buys.
The California Commission (CSAC) knows that, of course. That’s why executive director Andy Foster offered an explanation when updated rules were reported this week.
“So, technically, there won’t be a winner unless a knockout somehow occurs, or either fighter is deemed unfit to continue,’’ Foster said.
Somehow is the operative word here. Triller, the exhibition’s promoter, responded, saying that a KO could happen. Of course. The only way to prohibit one is to prohibit the exhibition altogether.
“A knockout is allowed,” Triller co-owner Ryan Kavanaugh told Variety, a show-biz publication that will never be confused with The Ring. “We heard someone say there’s no knockouts. A knockout is absolutely allowed. …
If someone’s bleeding, the fight’s not going to stop.”
Kavanaugh also had his own explanation for 12-ounce gloves instead of the usual 10-ounce.
“That’s like putting in an extra Kleenex between two trucks crashing,” he said.
Also, there will be judges, although they won’t be working for the Commission. They won’t even be in the building, the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. They’ve been appointed by the World Boxing Council. Former women’s great Christy Martin, ex-light-heavyweight champion Chad Dawson and former lightweight and junior-middleweight champ Vinny Pazienza will judge from a studio. No franchise belt for the winner. But there is a WBC title, the Frontline Battle Belt, which will honor Black Lives Matter, also inscribed on the belt.
If reports about the purses are accurate, they’re astonishing. Reportedly, Tyson will collect $10 million, Jones $3 million. Remember, when this exhibition was announced it was supposed to be
for charity.
Triller also announced Wednesday that DraftKings is the event’s “official sports-betting partner.” However, sports books reportedly began to take down the line Thursday, an expectation perhaps of further controversy. Off-shore betting sites had Tyson as a slight favorite over Jones, who held titles from 160 to 175 pounds and took a heavyweight title from John Ruiz in March 2003.
The wager here: Fatigue. The hope: Both fighters get tired before they can land a knockout punch. Call it a safe bet.
