It’s a fight few expected to ever happen, but these days in boxing, is anything actually a surprise any more? Mike Tyson vs Floyd Mayweather Jr will apparently take place at some stage in 2026.
We have 200lbs Jake Paul about to ‘rumble’ with 135lbs Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis in a November exhibition, and now the 59-year-old Tyson is coming back for ‘one more last dance’ to rumble with the peerless Mayweather. Boxing really is the most curious of sports right now.
As yet the details are somewhat sketchy – no confirmed date or TV information has been forthcoming so far – just that these two ring legends will meet each other inside the ropes in 2026.
“This fight is something neither the world nor I ever thought would or could happen. Boxing has entered a new era of the unpredictable – and this fight is as unpredictable as it gets,” said ‘Iron Mike’ when the fight was announced.
Tyson was absolutely right about that last part – boxing is pretty unpredictable these days, and not in a good way sometimes. Tyson of course shocked everybody by returning to action 19 years on from his last bout to take on the aforementioned Paul.
Tyson warns Floyd
That fight did incredible numbers due to being placed free to existing subscribers on Netflix. The eight-rounder in Arlington, Texas had more than 100million fans watching the stream. Mind-boggling stuff.
Tyson though offered very little that night at AT&T Stadium, failing to produce anything of note against a YouTuber turned boxer, in what was a very uninspiring ‘fight’. He looked like a 58-year-old man, and time remains undefeated.
Now for some reason Tyson believes this will be different – although Mayweather is now 48 years old he remains in shape and was one of the finest defensive fighters ever, showcasing speed and incredible ring savvy to post a remarkable 50-0 pro resume. ‘Iron Mike’ even believes this decision will be bad for Floyd’s health.
“I still can’t believe Floyd wants to really do this. It’s going to be detrimental to his health, but he wants to do it, so it’s signed and it’s happening.”
Real fight or exhibition?
So the big question for us – as ever – is what actually is this event supposed to be? A real fight or an exhibition? Remember there is 50lbs in weight between these two, so how could it be a real fight?
While Tyson’s ‘blockbuster’ vs Paul was something of a freak show, it was at least sanctioned by somebody as a real fight. So the public switched on because not only because they hadn’t seen Tyson for 19 years, they also thought they would see violence dished out.
Now Tyson vs Mayweather apparently will be an exhibition, so we are not sure where those health warnings come from. Quite frankly we do not want to see a 59-year-old and a 48-year-old fight, and one of them gets badly hurt. If it’s an exhibition, it’s an exhibition.
It will be fascinating to find out the finer details, such as whether this is a conventional PPV promotion or whether it streams on a massive platform like Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. That should be the next big chip to fall, once we have a confirmed date and venue.
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