MIKE TYSON TO FIGHT RUGBY LEGEND IN CHARITY BOUT

Heavyweight legend Mike Tyson could soon be returning to the boxing ring to fight former New Zealand rugby union star Sonny Bill Williams, reports Daily Mail.

The boxing icon has revealed his ambitions to return to the ring to compete in charity fights, and has recently been training to get into shape ahead of a potential comeback. 

And after Tyson wowed fans by engaging in a ferocious sparring session in a Youtube video, Melbourne boxing promoter Brian Amatruda immediately got on the phone to arrange a charity bout for the former world heavyweight champion. 

The 53-year-old could either face Williams, former rugby league star Paul Gallen or retired Australian rules footballer Barry Hall. 

Amatruda is confident he could arrange a charity bout for Tyson in Melbourne that would fill any of the city’s biggest arenas.

The promoter said: ‘I’d hold it at Melbourne Arena where we’d get over 10,000 or even Princes Park where they got 30,000 for Jeff Fenech versus Azumah Nelson.

‘He might be 53 years old but he’s still a huge name and any of those blokes – Hall, Gallen or Sonny Bill – would jump at the chance to get into the ring with him.

‘I’d make it part of a card with a world title fight for Tayla (Harris) on it. It would be enormous. Not just a fight, it would be an event.’

And Amatruda has already taken the first steps to bring Tyson back to Australia, but if he accepts the fight down under, it might not take place until next year.   

‘The first thing I did was contact (celebrity agent) Max Markson and ask him to offer Tyson $1million,’ he said. 

‘Max brought him to Australia in 2012. He gets on well with him and his wife but the main thing is that he got him a visa to get into the country back then and that’s the key.’

Markson brokered Tyson’s advertising campaign with Australian company Ultra Tune but having served time in a US jail for rape in 1992, the ex-boxer has been unsuccessful in attempts to get a visa to return to the country since.

‘We’d have to wait until the coronavirus shutdowns are over of course so the fight probably wouldn’t be until early next year – as long as we can get the visa,’ Amatruda said.’

‘They gave him one in 2012 and he was fine, he’s a quiet family man now. He didn’t cause any trouble then, so why shouldn’t they let him back in?’

Williams is a rugby legend, having won the 2011 and 2015 World Cups in union but also playing for his country in rugby league. He currently plays for Toronto Wolfpack in the Super League.

Williams has also boxed professionally seven times, winning all of his fights, and becoming New Zealand heavyweight champion and WBA International Heavyweight Champion.