Roy Jones Jr says he will rely on his sharper boxing skills to pick apart Mike Tyson in the later rounds of their eight-round exhibition bout in Los Angeles on September 12.
The 51-year-old is returning to the ring for the first time since February 2018 while Tyson, 54, has been inactive for 15 years.
“I’m just going to box him at first,” Jones Jr told Peter Maniatis on the KO Boxing Show. “Stay away from him from that early onslaught. That’s when he will be most dangerous. For the first two or three rounds.
“After that, I should be able to take over as I have been active and he hasn’t been active. The longer the fight goes the better it is for me, the worse it is for him.
“So I will just come out and box early – keep my distance. If I keep my distance, the safer it will be for me but at the end of the day where at some point I will have to engage and put the pressure on him. Once I get past that early storm I will have my chance.”
Jones Jr, who won versions of the world championship at middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight, said the timing of the fight was perfect with the dearth of sports due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
“It was a blessing in disguise,” Jones Jr said. “I was just so glad so delighted that he chose me as the opponent he wanted to face.
“I wanted to fight Mike back when I won the heavyweight title back in 2003 but it was never going to happen – but he was the only guy I would have stayed for in the heavyweights to face.
“So when they came and called for me this time, I said ‘man, it’s a crazy time but people strictly in their house now, they really cannot go far so people want entertainment because we don’t have a lot of sports going on so this is a perfect time for it’.”
Jones Jr added he has been in the recording studio preparing a song that is set to be released in the lead up to the Tyson bout.
“I am still involved in the music industry and will have a song coming out before the (Mike Tyson) fight. Actually probably a couple of weeks before the fight. I can’t wait,” he said.