Now that Mike Tyson has officially come out of retirement for an exhibition match against Roy Jones Jr., current and former fighters are going to line up in hopes of having a chance to face one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. Kevin McBride, the last opponent Tyson faced in the ring during his career, is one of those who would love another shot.
McBride defeated Tyson by TKO on June 11, 2005, when Tyson quit on his stool before the seventh round. Iron Mike said after the fight that he only did it for the money and no longer had passion for the sport. In an interview with TMZ this week, McBride made it clear he would welcome another opportunity to go toe-to-toe with Tyson.
“After this fight with Roy Jones if he wants a rematch with me and someone puts up a couple million — I’m open to it if he gets a couple million or whoever gets a couple million,” McBride said. “I’ve got a couple of lovely kids and a lovely wife. I’d love to put my kids through college for free. … It would be a dream to fight him again.”
McBride said his boss at his current day job is a “boxing fanatic” and already said he’d give him time off to train and fight if Tyson is interested, so it’s obviously something McBride has been discussing in his personal life. When pressed further and asked if he’s serious about a potential rematch, the 47-year-old said he is not joking.
“My message to Mike is, ‘Let’s get it on!'” McBride said. “I’d definitely love to fight him again.”
A Tyson-McBride rematch almost certainly is not going to happen. If Tyson decides to keep going with his exhibition tour after fighting Jones next month, other legends who would draw a much bigger audience than McBride have already expressed interest. Still, you can’t blame McBride for trying to get himself back on Tyson’s radar.
