Mike Tyson could be set to return to the ring once more.
It isn’t what many fans will be keen to hear given what happened last time out. 58-year-old Tyson fought back in November in Arlington, Texas, against Jake Paul, a man more than half his age and with vastly less experience.
The youngest ever heavyweight world champion was soundly beaten on points across eight rounds and barely managed to land a punch in anger, so low were his strength and fitness levels.
That fight came almost 20 years after his first retirement back in 2005, after a second consecutive loss, and was followed by assurances from ‘Iron Mike’ that he would never fight again.
Despite that, he has apparently now been contacted by Kazakh combat sports promotion, Alash Pride League (APL) with a view to making another comeback and the APL President Alimzhan Bektaev has suggested work is underway.
“We are planning a bout between Mike Tyson and Fedor Emelianenko. Work in this direction is already underway. The tournament, where we want to invite Mike Tyson, is scheduled for December.”
Emelianenko is a Russian former PRIDE heavyweight title holder and four-time combat sambo world champion who is now 48 but remains a legend of MMA.
He has been competing since 2000 and beaten fellow stars of the cage, including Mirko Cro Cop, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mark Coleman and Andrei Arlovski, but retired back in 2023 after a TKO loss in the first round to Ryan Bader. At that time, Emelianenko said he was 100% done with MMA and was already targeting Tyson.
