Mike Tyson’s phone call to Tyson Fury which led to $500million demand

Fans were almost treated to the heavyweight boxing match of the century before Tyson Fury explained why his $500million showdown against Mike Tyson fell to pieces

Proposals for a heavyweight clash between Mike Tyson and Tyson Fury fell apart when one party asked for too much money.

That's according to 'The Gypsy King', who claimed negotiations of an exhibition clash between the pair were very much on at one point. However, the talks fell apart when 'Iron' Mike asked to be paid $500million (£385m) for the pleasure.

Fury - whose father, John, named him after the former unified world heavyweight champion - was at the height of his career having just beaten Deontay Wilder for the first time when he made the revelation. And the 36-year-old gushed over just how motivated he was to face a figure who has played a special role in his own boxing development.

"I did get a phone call with a chance to fight Mike Tyson," Fury told BT Sport in 2020. "I was like, 'What?' Yeah, I had a phone call saying, ‘Would you like to fight Mike Tyson in an exhibition fight?’ I was like, ‘Hell yeah!'"

The fixture never came to be, and 'The Baddest Man on the Planet' instead faced fellow boxing icon Roy Jones Jr in an exhibition in November 2020. Fast forward to today, and 58-year-old Tyson is due to come back from retirement in earnest when he faces Jake Paul over eight two-minute rounds on November 15.

Speaking to iFL TV in October of this year, Fury revealed the specifics of why his clash with Tyson never came to pass - and it all came down to the financials: "There was talk of it. His people contacted me. Mike and I had a phone call. It was all real but never materialised.

"Whoever was offering the comeback money to Mike offered us peanuts. Mike was talking about $500m figures [half a billion], but what came back to us on paper was a joke. It was crazy. I did have a $10m offer from ESPN to do the fight as an exhibition, but I think everyone has moved on now."

As much as Tyson's upcoming clash with Paul has been effective in drumming up interest, a tussle between the two Tysons would have been another matter entirely. The prospect of seeing heavyweight kings from their respective eras doesn't come around often, especially given The Gypsy King was still undefeated when the rumours first emerged.

Many expect this to be Tyson's swansong in the ring, with a permanent retirement likely to follow his punch-up with Paul. However, the hard-hitting American has refused to rule out fighting on, with several avenues he could go down including mixing it with some of today's top heavyweights and some of his former opponents.

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