Mike Tyson announces date for Lewis fight

Mike Tyson has revealed that he will fight Lennox Lewis later this year.

After failing to come to terms on a trilogy fight with Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson turned his attention to another former rival in the form of Lennox Lewis.

Tyson, who returned to the ring last year for an exhibition bout against Roy Jones Jr, had made it clear that he hoped to continue fighting and while all signs pointed to a third clash against Holyfield, a deal could not be done.

Holyfield will instead take on Kevin McBride in an exhibition match over the summer, while Tyson revealed that he would be back in the ring in September.

Speaking to TMZ Sports this week, Tyson confirmed that a rematch with Lewis is a done deal although an exact date and venue have yet to be announced.

Lewis knocked Tyson out when they shared the ring in 2002, after the latter told Lewis that he wanted to “eat his children” and the pair engaged in an infamous pre-fight brawl.

With a combined age of 109 going into the rematch, Tyson vs. Lewis II will likely come in for considerable criticism among fight fans although ‘Iron Mike’ has always maintained that he was eager to compete again after last November’s split draw against Jones Jr.

“I felt better than I anticipated,” Tyson said of the Jones fight.

“I thought I would be a little more nervous than I was, but I was relaxed. I felt like ‘wow’ – I could do some more, I could punch more combinations, and I could do this and do that.

“I said ‘wow, this is interesting’ and I want to do it again and I want to do it against someone I could go all out on. It made me interested in wanting to do it again.

“I wanted to go the distance, I didn’t want to knock anybody out, that’s what people expected, but I wanted to go the distance.”