Since participating in a non-competitive exhibition bout with fellow retired fiftysomething boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. last November, Mike Tyson's intended next in-ring activity has been the talk of the sport.
For a while, his infamous world heavyweight championship rival Evander Holyfield — with whom Tyson contested a contentious first bout filled with headbutt controversy before infamously biting a chunk out of Holyfield's ear in the rematch — appeared to be the ideal opponent for exhibition number two.
However, an unorthodox trilogy fight in their series will have to wait, if it ever happens. Holyfield will indeed return to the ring, but against fellow Tyson conqueror Kevin McBride on June 5 in chief support to the anticipated first defence of unified lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez against fellow unbeaten fighter George Kambosos.
In the wake of that news, Tyson has recently been linked with another old rival, Britain's former undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. Tyson and Lewis had a wild pull-apart at a face-to-face media event before their encounter, which was handily won by Lewis.
While attending Andy Ruiz Jr's successful return against fellow heavyweight Chris Arreola on Saturday in a work capacity for the FOX television coverage, Lewis was asked whether or not the rumours of a legends' encounter with Tyson were true.
“Not yet but soon," Lewis said of a potential announcement in the near future. "Maybe. We are talking.”
Boxing website Bad Left Hook noted that Lewis’ suit jacket had a print of himself and Tyson from the poster of their 2002 fight in its lining. Whether or not this was a deliberate 'Easter Egg' hint from the 55-year-old remains to be seen.
Ruiz Jr. recovered from a second-round knockdown to earn the win against Arreola in what was his first fight since losing the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight titles back to Anthony Joshua. Ruiz lost a lot of excess weight and hired Canelo Alvarez's trainer Eddy Reynoso ahead of his return.