Never one to sit on the fence, three-time world champion Carl Froch has weighed in on Mike Tyson’s high profile, eight-round exhibition fight against Roy Jones Jr.
Froch believes recent videos of a 54-year-old Tyson ripping into the pads are misleading and no indication of what lies in store in the former heavyweight champion’s rescheduled fight against Jones in California on November 28.
Tyson has not boxed since a shocking loss to Kevin McBride in 2005 whereas Jones, 51, was still fighting at a decent standard as recently as 2018. Froch wonders if ‘Iron Mike’ will struggle with the pace and mentally unravel if things go against him.
“Would he lose the plot like he did against Holyfield [in their June 1997 rematch] and take a chunk of the old ear off? There could be a danger where he gets really frustrated,” ‘The Cobra’ said on his Froch on Fighting podcast.
“Those 16-ounce gloves are going to be more difficult to knock his opponent out. And then they’re going to be blowing out of their arse after three or four rounds, surely?
“We’re blowing out of our arse after four rounds as young professional fighters. We just manage the recovery and breathe differently and go a bit flat-footed through the fight.
“But when you’re in your 50s, you’re absolutely exhausted and you can’t recover. Your fitness is your ability to recover and you can’t recover when you’re old. So there is a danger of this becoming a no-contest after four rounds, there really is.”