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Mike Tyson announces fight with Floyd Mayweather will take place in 2026
Tyson, 59, has suggested he is coming out of retirement again to fight fellow boxing legend Mayweather
Legendary boxers Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather have agreed to a fight in 2026.
Tyson, 59, took to Instagram Thursday night to announce the event, sharing a poster featuring half of each boxer’s face and the words, “Legend vs. Legend.”
The boxing star simply captioned the post, “Coming Soon.”
Tyson was shocked Mayweather agreed to the fight, telling TMZ Sports, “This fight is something neither the world nor I ever thought would or could happen.”
"I still can't believe Floyd wants to really do this,” he said, adding that it will be “detrimental to his health”.
But Mayweather, who's almost a decade younger than Tyson, isn’t afraid.
“I’ve been doing this for 30 years and there hasn't been a single fighter that can tarnish my legacy,” he told TMZ Sports.
He continued: “You already know that if I am going to do something, it's going to be big and it’s going to be legendary. I'm the best in the business of boxing. This exhibition will give the fans what they want."
Since the fight is an exhibition, if Mayweather did lose to Tyson, it wouldn’t mess up his 50-0 record.
This is not the first time Tyson has come out of retirement for a star-studded fight. Last November, Tyson lost to Jake Paul, a 28-year-old boxer and influencer. Before then, he hadn’t been in a professional bout since 2005.
Mayweather’s last professional fight was in 2017 against Conor McGregor. TMZ Sports called it the “most-watched matchups ever.” Showtime said it had generated 4.3 million domestic pay-per-view buys, ESPN previously reported.
In 2021, Mayweather fought Jake Paul’s older brother, Logan Paul, in an exhibition. While there was no official winner, ESPN scored the fight 78-74 for Mayweather.
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On Wednesday, ESPN named Mayweather the top boxer of the century.
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