Mike Tyson’s comeback to boxing has ended in farcical fashion after his bout with Roy Jones Jr was scored a controversial draw on Sunday.
Tyson showed glimpses of his destructive prime during the 54-year-old boxing icon’s return to the ring for a lively exhibition bout with 51-year-old Jones Jr.
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Both fighters had impressive moments during a fight that was unofficially ruled a draw by the WBC judges at ringside.
Tyson and Jones fought eight two-minute rounds, and both emerged smiling and apparently healthy from a highly unusual event at Staples Centre.
“This is better than fighting for championships,” Tyson said of the heavyweight exhibition, which raised money for various charities.
“We’re humanitarians now. We can do something good for the world. We’ve got to do this again.”
However there was uproar amongst boxing fans and pundits, with many believing Tyson should have been declared the winner.
ESPN boxing analyst Dan Rafael called the judges’ decision “pure insanity”.
“Absurdly the unofficial WBC scorecards had #TysonJones a draw when Tyson clearly dominated,” he wrote on Twitter.
“(Judge) Vinny Paz had the pure insanity card of 80-76 Jones.”
Boxing commentator Bob Sheridan was also shocked.
“I gotta tell you, I gave Mike Tyson every single round, because Roy just couldn’t seem to do anything at all,” he said.
“I scored it 80-72.”
