ROY JONES JR has warned Mike Tyson he is in “trouble” if he does not finish their fight early.
The two boxing legends have signed to face each other in an eight-round exhibition bout on September 12 in California.
It marks Tyson’s first fight in 15 years, but Jones only retired in 2018.
The 51-year-old reckons should he survive and early Iron Mike onslaught, his famed boxing skills can see him outsmart the youngest heavyweight champion of all time.
Jones told TMZ Sports: “Not only does Mike look like a killer, Mike is a killer, but the whole thing people need to realise is, Mike is a killer, Mike not a cheetah.
“Mike’s got to go kill quick, if he don’t kill quick he got problems on his hands.
“If he can’t kill quick then he is fighting one of the smartest, savviest guys to ever do things, if he don’t kill quick then he’s in trouble.”
The heavyweight headliners are familiar foes.
After Jones – a former middleweight champion – made the unprecedented step up to heavyweight in 2003 to win the WBA belt, he insisted only a Tyson fight would keep him in the blue ribbon division.
But Andre Ward, who had the same manager as the four-weight king, claimed he actually declined a £33m offer to face Iron Mike.
Now, over a decade later, they are set to face off in a pay-per-view exhibition, expected to be fought in 12oz gloves but no headgear.
Jones will not be rushed into a shootout with Tyson – instead hoping to slow the 54-year-old down and capitalise in the later rounds.
He said: “I’m not going to go out there and try to collide with him in the first round – take him out like I’m a fool.
“He good early, he still a strong lion, but he’s got a cheetah mentality, a cheetah mentality means I gotta get it quick, if he don’t get it quick, it belongs to me then.”
