Roy Jones Jr. says he thought he beat Mike Tyson

After going to a draw with Mike Tyson, Roy Jones Jr. felt he won the exhibition match outright from the opening bell.

Jones Jr. made his return to boxing competition after stepping away from the ring in February 2018, as he was on a four-fight win streak, most recently defeating Scott Sigmon in a 10-round unanimous decision. Jones Jr. finished his career 66-9 overall, spanning a total of 29 years.

Over two years removed from competition, the former WBA, WBC, and IBF light heavyweight champion decided to give it one more shot, as he boxed Mike Tyson in an eight, two-minute round exhibition match broadcast to millions of people worldwide on pay-per-view.

Jones Jr. felt he did enough to defeat Tyson, despite the ruling being declared a draw from the officials at ringside.

“Yeah, of course. Everybody’s always gonna feel like they won the fight,” Jones said during his post-fight interview. “I thought I won the fight. I thought I jabbed, moved around, kinda controlled the pace better. But, you know, a draw. I’ll take a draw with Mike Tyson. I mean, c’mon bro, how could you get mad about that? [Do] you know what I mean? And he was throwing more power punches anyway. I mean, I’m throwing more jabs and probably other punches and he was landing more power punches, so, but it can go either way. I’m cool with the draw.”

Jones Jr. recognizes that Tyson wants to run it back, but the former multi-division champion thought Tyson was bigger than he actually looked.

“I hear him talking about wanting to do it again, but that’s a big old dude,” Jones explained with a laugh. “He was bigger than what he weighed in. He weighed 220 [pounds], but he’s way more masculine [at] 212. Trust me.”

Jones Jr. is not entirely satisfied with a draw but feels that his family should have the final say on another return to the ring.

“I’m okay with [a draw], but me being me and knowing me, I ain’t gonna be settling for draws if I say it right away. I’m not the draw-type of guy, so I mean, I’ll talk to my kids. My kids outta tell me, “No dad, that’s it,” but we’ll see.”

Roy Jones Jr. won 15-straight fights from 1997-2003.

At the height of his career, Jones Jr. was tough to beat, as he went on a six-year winning streak that included seven TKO victories. His streak was snapped after losing in a rematch to Antonio Tarver in Nov. 2003.

Jones Jr. has become famous as a rapper, along with doing work as a color analyst for HBO Boxing during the second half of his career.

Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. took place on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020, live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. The event was hosted by Triller.