Is the World Ready for a Mike Tyson Comeback Fight in 2020?

Is Mike Tyson really coming back?Kamran Jebreili/Associated Press

“The Baddest Man on the Planet” hasn’t been in the spotlight for well over two decades now.

But at the age of 53, Mike Tyson, the boxing icon that became the youngest heavyweight champion in history by defeating Trevor Berbick in 1986 when he was 20 years old, seems determined to give it another go.

“I’m back,” Tyson revealed in the latest training video the fighter released via social media on Monday.

It was a montage of Tyson performing some crisp and powerful combinations, the kind of video that almost immediately goes viral when someone as famous at Tyson releases it.

Boxing on BT Sport 🥊 @BTSportBoxing Mike Tyson has been training HARD ahead of a potential comeback 😳🔥 https://t.co/fzcGSEbsgt [](https://twitter.com/BTSportBoxing/status/1259899663714525186)

But how can Tyson be back?

And what does that even mean to the current landscape of the heavyweight division?

Those are the two most pressing questions that come to mind about Tyson’s declaration.

First, let’s be clear about one thing right off the bat. Maybe more than any other culture in sports, boxing suffers from its own obsession with romanticizing the past.

Nothing is ever good enough right now.

It was the same during the 1990s, now considered one of the best and deepest heavyweight divisions in boxing history, and so it goes today.

Not convinced?

I’m telling you, as a kid growing up during the fantastic fighting days of Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe, all I ever heard about and read in magazines growing up back then was how these guys couldn’t possibly compare to the heavyweights of 1970s.

Heck, I have several The Ring magazines from the 1950s in my dresser drawer right now with inches of ink devoted in them about how terrible a champion Rocky Marciano was, the only heavyweight champ in history to retire undefeated and never return to the ring.

And I’m telling you that my grandpa thought Joe Louis could butcher any other fighter who ever walked the earth even when Louis was an old man.

In boxing, the pass is always better than the present.

So despite the amazing heavyweight landscape that exists today, one that includes massive stars Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder, there are still many who long for the good old days of “Iron” Mike Tyson

Certainly, after Tyson’s latest video, those folks are ready to see Tyson back in action, even if they probably shouldn’t be.

Look no further as an example of this way of thinking than boxing trainer Jeff Fenech, who revealed to Sporting News recently that he believes this 53-year-old version of Tyson would beat some of the very best heavyweights in the world.

“Boxing’s not the same now. I’d guarantee that if Mike Tyson trained for six weeks, he’d knock Wilder out in a minute,” Fenech said. “He would hit them. If these guys are getting knocked out by Tyson Fury – who’s a great fighter, but not a huge puncher – Tyson would kill these guys.”

ESPN MMA @espnmma Coach Rafael Cordeiro (@kings_mma) told @arielhelwani what it’s like to hold mitts for @MikeTyson 😅 https://t.co/9MDRfgWZQH [](https://twitter.com/espnmma/status/1257444903107416067)

But Tyson hasn’t competed in a real fight since 2005.

In that contest, the once formidable Tyson was soundly defeated by Kevin McBride, a fighter the former champ had described as a “tomato can” before the action ensued.

“I’m going to gut you like a fish,” Tyson said at the pre-fight press conference per The Sweet Science’s Arne Lang.

But McBride beat the truth out of Tyson, showing minimally that he no longer had what it took to compete as a top-tier professional prizefighter.

“I don’t have it anymore,” Tyson said afterward. “You’re smart too late and old too soon.”

And that was 15 years ago.

Tyson’s last fight didn’t go so well.PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS/Associated Press

Still, Tyson is the most popular boxer in history, at least this side of Muhammad Ali, so there will always be plenty of interest around his comeback plans.

Heck, arguably his biggest generational rival Holyfield revealed he’d be interested in a third fight against Tyson for charity.

And why wouldn’t he?

Holyfield defeated Tyson in 1996 via knockout in one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight championship history, then again via disqualification in the infamous “Bite Fight” one year later.

So the plain truth of the matter is that Tyson hasn’t been what people remember him to be since well before those two fights happened over 20 years ago.

Focus On Sport/Getty Images

One could argue he never got back into his “Baddest Man on the Planet” form after being convicted of rape and sent to prison in 1992.

Oh, how we cherish the past in boxing.

Regardless, Tyson’s comeback to boxing seems to be moving forward anyway.

One of the best heavyweight champions of all-time, if Tyson truly wants to return to the boxing ring like he says he does, and he can pass all the required medical tests required to do so, he certainly deserves the chance to try.

But hitting the mitts is one thing, doing charity exhibitions against other old fighters for fun is another, and facing legit heavyweight contenders and champions right now in 2020 is one, too.

The first two things make passable sense for someone as popular at Tyson who might simply want more go at what he loves to do.

That last thing though? Coming back to fight the best of the best right now?

It’s a bad idea, even from someone once considered the baddest dude around.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.

Kelsey McCarson covers combat sports for Bleacher Report and Heavy. Follow @Kelsey_McCarson on Twitter.

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