Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) will next week improve their previous bid of $20 million dollars to tempt former heavyweight boxing king Mike Tyson out of retirement and into the ungloved ring.
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BKFC boss David Feldman said his firm plans to lure 53-year-old ‘Iron Mike’ to return to fighting 15 years after his last professional outing with a mega money deal which could see Tyson earn close to his biggest ever payday.
Boxing legend Mike Tyson shows off his speed and amazing 53-year-old body
In an interview with MMA fighting, BKFC boss David Feldman said: “I think I know what we need to do to make this thing happen,” after an earlier cool $20 mil failed to tempt Tyson.
Feldman confirmed this time round the offer will be in excess of that amount and also include additional payments such as charitable donations the could near the $30 million biggest career purse of Tyson’s career.
The BKFC boss didn’t confirm exactly how much the contract would be worth, but did confirm that MMA legend Tito Ortiz would not be in the running to face Tyson, and instead mooted the idea of “dangerous” former UFC fighter Wanderlei Silva.
Tyson himself admitted there was a plethora of contenders queueing up for the fight and told Lil Wayne on his Young Money Radio show “Some time this week we’ll have the contract done” for a mystery opponent.
Tyson created a whirlwind when he hinted at a comeback by posting a string of social media videos hammering the pads and showing off his impressive physique to show that ‘Iron Mike’ had gathered almost no ring rust despite him turning 54 next month.
Nearly thirty five years have passed since prodigal New Yorker Tyson, then known as ‘Kid Dynamite’, became the youngest man to win the heavyweight championship aged just 20 years, four months and 22 days in 1986.
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Formerly known as ‘the baddest man on the planet’, Tyson now more resembles ‘a respectable man about town’ and has left his hellraising days behind to settle down to his Hotboxin’ podcast and Tyson Ranch cannabis products company.
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Consequently, some fans have doubted whether the Brooklynite can muster the same evil streak that saw him mow down 44 opponents from his 50 career wins and make nine defences of his heavyweight title.
First couple weeks of training in the boxing gym and it feels great to be back?
There has been talk Tyson could rematch Evander Holyfield for a second time with the three-time world heavyweight champion also announcing a comeback for a charity match and training with another heavyweight ruler in Wladimir Klitschko.
That would make the colorful Tyson-Holyfield rivalry into a trilogy; Holyfield won their 1996 match by 11th-round TKO in one of the division’s greatest ever shocks, but their 1997 rematch became famous for Tyson biting both of The Real Deal’s ears in one of the most shocking events ever seen inside the squared circle, thus losing by 3rd-round disqualification.
Among others who have expressed interest in making Tyson their scalp is Russia MMA fighter Sergei Kharitonov, who accepted a potential fight when offered by boxing promoter Vlad Khrunyov.
Tyson himself however dismissed a potential matchup with New Zealand rugby player-turned boxer Sonny Bill Williams as “an insult to boxing”.
