Over the last six months or so there have been rumours in some quarters online that a Mike Tyson bare knuckle boxing match has been talked about with former professional cruiserweight champion Bobby Gunn. We spoke to Bobby to find out the real story.
For the first time since the Mike Tyson bare knuckle boxing rumours began, we spoke with Bobby Gunn today who put the record straight on the speculation and gave us an insight into how he first met Mike, the great deal of respect he has for him and how big he believes a bare knuckle fight could potentially be with Tyson if it were to happen.
Bobby Gunn at present is in the bare knuckle boxing Hall of Fame as the only living current world champion in the field. Mike Tyson is still the youngest ever heavyweight champion in professional boxing history.
Therefore, it doesn’t take a genius to realise that the coming together of the two in combat would undeniably peak interest from anyone even remotely aware of who they are, given the uniqueness that such an event would entail.
Starting off our conversation, Bobby said:
“I have known Mike Tyson for over 30 years. I used to train alongside him in 1991 at the Golden Nugget Boxing Gym in Las Vegas, Nevada, when he was preparing to fight Donovan ‘Razor’ Ruddock. He was very nice to me there.”
He went on to say:
“There has been rumours circulating for the last 6 months (about fighting Mike in bare knuckle boxing). We have gotten a few calls, all that I can say is that I love Mike Tyson. I could not carry his jock strap, the man is an all-time great but if it ever materialised I would be honoured to go ahead with the fight.”
Bobby continued:
“I think it would be a huge International Pay-Per-View event but I can’t confirm anything, like I said, I’m just the fighter my team basically runs the show but I will tell you this, Mike Tyson is a total class act and I think it would make a great bare-knuckle fight.”
Gunn concluded:
“As crazy as it is me and Mike Tyson are pretty much built the exact same right now as you can see in this photograph (above). Man, I would love to throw hands with a legend like Mike.”
Bobby Gunn is now 42 with Mike Tyson aged 50, both having stellar careers in their respective fields and with both men being known the world over, there’s no denying that a potential bare-knuckle match between the two is something that could garner massive interest among fight fans.
Bobby was featured earlier this year in a very popular short documentary ob the Rolling Stone which I urge any fight fan to give a quick watch:
