Forget the farce that was the 2020 exhibition match between Tyson and Jones. In 2003 or 2004, both men were very different. Roy Jones had just captured the heavyweight crown from John Ruiz. Mike Tyson just suffered a 10 round beating from Lennox Lewis and was content showcasing his decaying skillet in wins over Clifford Etienne and Francois Botha, when not busy threatening to eat a man's children or violate a reporter publicly. Roy Jones was literally Superman until he wasn't. Kryptonite came in the Antonio Tarver series, where I believe he did lose all three fights. He was given the nod in the first fight. Tyson was fighting to avoid bankruptcy and pay lawsuits. Tyson had long eschewed what made him successful. His weight ballooned from 218 to 240 lbs. The peek-a-boo style was discarded to become a blitzing brawler. ( I love alliteration!) In short, Tyson was a guy who could punch. Nothing special. Roy was still the same elusive, powerful, fleet footed showman. The result would be humbling. Roy would abuse Mike for the entirety of the contest until Mike would do something shameful and get disqualified, if the ref doesn't call the contest first.
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