Bob Sapp is hoping to re-ignite a fight with Mike Tyson now that the former heavyweight champion has walked back talk of retiring from boxing. While Tyson seems to be leaning more towards an easy paycheck sparring a Paul brother, Sapp is over in Thailand training hard to tear someone’s head off. If he has his way, that someone would be Mike Tyson.
Tyson admitted on The Joe Rogan Experience that he was originally going to box Sapp for his comeback fight in November 2020, a bout that ended up going to Roy Jones Jr. “The Beast” took that clip and others involving Joe Rogan to make an Instagram video called ‘Why Mike Tyson won’t fight Bob Sapp!!’
The video uses Mike Tyson’s own words to confirm he was ready to fight Sapp before the money men behind his comeback (Triller?) changed the opponent to Roy Jones Jr.
“How would they like me to fight [Sapp]?” Tyson says in an old interview. “Can I fight him under the Marquis of Queensbury rules? The guy said yes. I said I’ll fight him. It went from him to somebody else to some other guy from MMA then this guy, and next thing you know it came down to Roy [Jones Jr.]. I’m like, ‘I don’t know what the hell is going on.’”
A ridiculously muscled Sapp sent out a challenge to Tyson in a second video.
“Mike, now we all know what happened when you and I talked about the fight,” Sapp said. “I sent you a photo along with this sentence: ‘Mike if you fight me I will rip your heart out and tear it to shreds.’ And it still applies.”
“As for you, Mike. I’ve got a challenge for you,” he continued. “Since you stopped running, listen to me for a second. You and me and two of my best fighters vs two of your best fighters. Stand up, Marquess of Queensbury Rules. Because you’re too scared to fight one on one. I’ll take all of you on, punk boxers. I like little Michael. I like little Michael. That’s my challenge you know my age. Fight me. Or my crew.”
While the Tyson vs. Jones Jr. exhibition bout was carried off the excitement of seeing two legends working their craft, a fight between Mike Tyson and Bob Sapp would hit a whole other set of notes. Would the 350 pound, 48-year old Sapp pummel the 220 pound 55-year old Tyson? Or would Sapp crumble after the first jab to the nose?
Sapp is a freakshow favorite best known for power-bombing Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on his head. When he was getting million dollar paychecks from PRIDE and K-1 he put in million dollar performances, wrecking everyone the promotions put in front of him. Around 2008 Sapp stopped training as hard and gained a reputation for tapping the moment fights got hard. Who knows where his mind is these days, but his record in MMA and kickboxing over the last decade is 3-15.
What do you think, Maniacs? Is Sapp vs. Tyson terrible? Intriguing? Or both?
