Roy Jones Jr turned down £33m deal to fight Mike Tyson at heavyweight, says former world champion Andre Ward
BOXING legend Roy Jones Jr reportedly turned down £33million to fight Mike Tyson back in 2003.
The two stars will meet in November in an exhibition showdown as the pair prepare to climb back into the ring.
However, Jones Jr could have been quids in if he had agreed to face Iron Mike 17 years ago.
The four-weight world champ had just beaten John Ruiz to win the WBA heavyweight world title, while Tyson was coming to the end of his rollercoaster career.
But according to ex-boxer Andre Ward, Jones Jr didn't fancy going into battle with Tyson and instead pursued a scrap against Antonio Tarver, for a fraction of that money and back down at light-heavy.
Speaking to to Ward said: There was a [Mike] Tyson fight on the table, and I believe I’m accurate when I say this it was somewhere around $40 million guaranteed.
"There was an upside too. You stay at heavyweight, keep the weight on, and Tyson wasn’t quite Tyson at that time.
"He was still dangerous, but he wasn’t quite Tyson. I think they were working towards it. What I heard was Roy wanted more money.
"Roy somehow said, ‘No, the fight will be there down the road,’ and put his attention to Antonio Tarver, and the rest is history.
"I wanted to see him fight Tyson and ride off into the sunset. One more and you're out.
"Roy could have had a full career, and rode off into the sunset, hunting and fishing, doing whatever he does, and still not been fundamentally sound."
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Tyson had another two fights, both losses including the shock TKO defeat to Brit Danny Williams in 2004.
Iron Mike retired after he was pulled out against Kevin McBride a year later.
Jones, meanwhile, struggled to let go of the sport he loved, and was boxing right up until 2018 and finished on 75 fights, 66 wins and nine defeats.
Now Tyson and Jones Jr will finally meet on November 28 after postponing their original planned clash on September 12.
