Daniel Cormier has questions when it comes to Mike Tyson sharing the ring with Floyd Mayweather.
The boxing legends recently announced plans to meet in an exhibition boxing bout with a date and location still to be determined. Tyson and Mayweather are two of the biggest stars in combat sports history, with countless titles and classic fights to their names, but it’s unclear what a matchup between the two will look like given their advanced age (Tyson is 59, Mayweather is 48), the huge size difference
between them (Tyson is a career heavyweight while Mayweather has never competed north of 155 pounds), and the bout potentially being more of a spectacle than a competition.
Cormier is concerned that fans who tune in to the event will be left disappointed.
“I believe the fans want violence,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “Maybe they don’t, though. Mike is saying he can give us what we want, but what is it that they can give us without promising violence? Because one thing I know we won’t see is Mike just starch Floyd Mayweather. Could you imagine if he just knocks out Floyd and Floyd’s that much smaller, the visual? Hell, it would be the most viewed thing you ever see on TV. The clips would be the most viral shit you’ve ever seen in your entire life. But I can’t imagine Floyd would sign up for that knowing that that was a possibility.”
Mayweather retired in 2017 with a 50-0 pro record following a win over UFC star Conor McGregor. He has participated in several exhibition bouts since, squaring off against the likes of influencer Logan Paul and Japanese kickboxing standout Tenshin Nasukawa.
Tyson has also dabbled in the exhibition bout world, going to an eight-round draw with fellow former heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr. in 2020 and then returning to the pro ranks for a widely watched fight with Jake Paul in 2024.
Even knowing they’re at a different stage of their illustrious careers, Cormier could think of one word to describe the prospective superfight.
“Ridiculous,” Cormier said. “200 pounds. 140. Floyd Mayweather was fighting at 154 and he was severely undersized at 154. Floyd Mayweather was a guy that fought in the 130s to start his career and then fought up as high as 160 maybe? Floyd Maywather was a small guy. He’s now going to fight Mike Tyson, who was the heavyweight champion of the world. … I don’t get this. I don’t get this for the life of me because by all accounts, Mike Tyson started his new business, got his life on track, has a great wife that helps him manage all those things, made a boatload of money to fight Jake Paul last year. It’s not a money play.
“Floyd, I saw a thing this morning him talking about him keeping his money clean, stuffing hundreds of thousands of dollars in a plastic bag. These guys don’t need money. A lot of times when you get these great champions fighting well past their prime, it’s to make cash. We see it a lot. These two don’t seem to need the money. So I don’t understand the need to do this.”
Though Tyson’s bout with Paul broke streaming viewership records airing live on Netflix, the fight was heavily criticized for a lack of action as Paul went on to win a forgettable decision. Now, it appears fans are possibly being sold a bill of goods again and Cormier wonders how long the athletes involved can string them along without actually delivering on fight night.
“My biggest question always around these things is how do guys, especially the greats, explain to the general public you’re going to watch a fight between Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather but it’s not going to be an actual fight, it’s going to be an exhibition,” Cormier said. “How much in that exhibition are supposed to believe that they’re actually fighting? … Can Floyd and Mike fight at 100 percent when there’s that big a difference in size? Can Mike Tyson hit Floyd Mayweather?
“Floyd Mayweather, when you look at him, never took much damage in his career. Floyd hasn’t been hit much. Floyd has all of his faculties about himself. He’s still fine. Would he be willing to risk all that to go fight Mike Tyson in an ‘exhibition,’ but the exhibition actually fought at a pace and an intensity level that makes people go, ‘I want to watch this.’”
