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Roy Jones’ exhibition fight with Mike Tyson has been delayed, and Jones wants to be compensated for it.
Last week, it was announced that the proposed exhibition boxing match between legends Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. was going to be pushed from from an original September 12th date to November 28th. There was no reason for the delay given at the time.
Now, it appears that one of the combatants is not at all happy about the delay.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Jones Jr. laid out his issues with the fight being re-scheduled for November. He basically wants to be compensated for the date change, or he might not fight at all.
“For me it was more about pushing to go ahead and do it, firstly because I’m focused, and you need to stay focused,” Jones said. “… I’ve had to cancel other stuff to be out here. It’s upset my calendar. I’ve got to change things.
“That’s the biggest issue. I’m not a full-time boxer anymore, so I do other things to make an income. If I can’t do other things, then I should be compensated for that, because it changes the schematics. It’s not acceptable.”
He stated that there are ongoing negotiations, but the delay might scuttle the fight altogether:
“We’re trying to figure something out. My lawyers (are) talking with their lawyers, trying to figure out ways to make it a better situation so that I can compensated for it, that is more beneficial for me to do,” he said. “… If they don’t make it make sense, (the fight) would be off.
“Why would I change the date and mess up the rest of my year when I agreed to September 12? They said they wanted to get a crowd. If you want to get a crowd, that’s a different type of money. If you want a big event, that’s a different type of money.
“You think I’m going to say, OK, let’s look at my money, but I’m not getting no better percent. How dumb is that to me? So let’s see what happens.”
The event was originally scheduled to go down in Carson, California. There is no word as of yet if the location will remain the same.