Mike Tyson was offered half a billion dollars to step into the ring against Tyson Fury, claims the ex-WBC heavyweight champion, in what would have been an exhibition boxing match during the covid-19 pandemic.
The 58-year-old eventually is one of the most iconic sportspeople of all-time and dominated the heavyweight division during the late 1980s and 1990s, meaning he commands a lot of respect and value in negotiations.
But $500m dollars? That’s what Fury claimed the boxing great was offered to face him, whilst he hit out at the supposed promoters for devaluing him in comparison as he was offered a fraction of Tyson‘s demands.
“There was talk of it,” Fury told IFL TV. “His people contacted me. Mike and I had a phone call. It was all real but never materialised.
“Whoever was offering the comeback money to Mike offered us peanuts. Mike was talking about $500 million figures [half a billion], but what came back to us on paper was a joke.
“It was crazy. I did have a $10m offer from ESPN to do the fight as an exhibition, but I think everyone has moved on now.”
Tyson eventually went on to fight Roy Jones Jr. in 2020, and now he is preparing to take on Jake Paul at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington on November 20 as he competes in his first professional fight since 2005.
Whilst Fury faced Deontay Wilder and Oleksandr Usyk in the meantime as he lost the chance to become undisputed heavyweight champion in May by a split decision defeat to the Ukrainian, and although they will rematch in December it will not be for undisputed as Usyk vacated the belt.
Is Tyson Fury named after Mike Tyson?
It would almost seem like divine fate if Fury was named after Iron Mike Tyson and went on to become a heavyweight champion too, so is he actually named after the 58-year-old who won 50 fights?
The answer is yes. After being born prematurely and given low odds of survival, the father of the 6ft 9in boxer chose to name him after the then-heavyweight champion of the world, who was Mike Tyson.
“The doctors told me there was not much chance of him living,” said Fury‘s father, John. “I had lost two daughters in the same way who had been born prematurely. They told me there was not much hope for him.
“It was 1988, Mike Tyson was in his pomp as world heavyweight champion, and so I said, ‘Let’s call him Tyson’. The doctors just looked at me and smiled.”
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