MIKE TYSON is still in negotiations for an exhibition with Floyd Mayweather in 2026 – after KOing claims that his fight against Jake Paul was fixed.
The heavyweight legend made a controversial comeback last November to face YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul over eight shorter rounds of two minutes.
And after Tyson lost a lacklustre decision – online conspiracists alleged the bout – seen by over 100 MILLION on Netflix – was rigged.
Paul has since hired attorney Alex Spiro – also used by Elon Musk in the past – to take legal action against anyone making the baseless accusation.
But also fighting his corner is boxing manager Amer Abdallah – who was in Tyson’s training camp and corner for the mega-fight.
Abdallah told SunSport: “I know it sounds cliche – but I’m proud of a 58-year-old man going in there and doing things that 20-year-olds couldn’t do. Mike was in the gym busting his ass every day.
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“And listen, I’ll get the elephant out of the room; the first question I’m always asked every single time that I see somebody that I haven’t seen since that fight is, ‘Man, was there an agreement in place? Was there something?’
“And I’ll tell you the answer is absolutely not. Mike busted his ass five-six days a week in the gym, legitimate sparring partners, legitimate strength and conditioning guys, legitimate nutritionists.
“He took the fight very seriously but Mike is also a guy that right before we walked out to the Jake fight, he came over and he goes, ‘I love making history.’
“And you could just tell that’s what drives that guy, he’s just built a little bit different than most people are.
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“And look, an opportunity presented itself once again, a very monumental landmark kind of event, a little bit unconventional with with the Floyd fight and he jumped on it and and listen he’s back in it again.
“Mike’s just one of those guys that’s gonna keep pushing himself until he can’t push anymore so you know that’s Mike Tyson, that’s why he is who he is.”
Tyson – who has since turned 59 – and Mayweather announced in September that they had signed to fight in an exhibition bout next year.
But scepticism has been raised with no date or venue having yet been confirmed.
Although Abdallah – speaking in Manila ahead of IBA’s event in the Philippines – is confident the spectacle showdown will be signed, sealed and delivered.
He said: “I have an immense deal of trust in the agent representing Mike for that, Andrew Ruf of Paradigm.
“Andrew is a very diligent guy. The discussions with Floyd’s team are very diligent, very structured.
“The guys that are financing the event are real guys. They put real money up, real deposits.
“I believe the fight does happen. I really do. I mean, unless something catastrophic happens.
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“Candidly, I think that you’re gonna have to make sure you get a network that’s willing to stream a fight like that and then once that’s announced, I think we see that in Q2 of next year.”
