On Facebook
On Flipboard
On Twitter
Mike Tyson could make a return to fighting amid the news that he may face Fedor Emelianenko in December.
Tyson raised many eyebrows when he made his return to professional boxing last year, taking on Jake Paul. Mike entered the ring as a 57-year-old who had not boxed professionally since his 2005 loss to Kevin McBride. Tyson ended up losing a unanimous decision, as he was no longer the same fighter he had been. Tyson admitted that he wore a compression sleeve on his knee to help him get through the fight.
Meanwhile, Tyson also said he could not remember what happened during the fight, admitting he had a blackout. However, in his post-fight comments, Tyson refused to rule out making a comeback. He even went so far as to call out Logan Paul for a bout. While Tyson emerged from the ring unscathed, there was widespread criticism of the Texas Commission for sanctioning the bout.
The Concerns
“I don’t remember the fight that much, I kind of blanked out a little. I remember coming back from the first round, and Jake is doing some kind of, I don’t know what he was doing [a bow]. That’s the last thing I remember. I don’t remember [the fight]. But my body was really sore [afterward]. My chest, and my stomach was really sore… The day after I woke up, I said to my wife ‘Why did I do that?’. I just don’t know what the hell was going on,” Tyson said
As for Emelianenko, he is one of the biggest names in MMA. He competed in the PRIDE heavyweight division before moving to Affliction and Strikeforce. He joined Bellator, beating the former heavyweight champion Ryan Bader in his last MMA bout. Now, the President of the Alash Pride League has said a fight could take place.
“We are planning a bout between Mike Tyson and Fedor Emelianenko. Work in this direction is already underway. The tournament, where we want to invite Tyson, is scheduled for December,” Bektaev said
More must-reads:
- Predicting the American League Manager of the Year finalists
- Eli Manning wouldn't help Giants QB Jaxson Dart with an unexpected request
- The 'Switch-hitter single-season HR leaders' quiz
Breaking News
Trending News
TODAY'S BEST
RIP Longtime Boxing & UFC Journalist Thomas Gerbasi
On Wednesday morning, news broke that the combat media world lost longtime boxing and UFC journalist, International Women’s Boxing hall of famer Thomas Gerbasi, due to a heart attack. He was 57 years old. It was a few minutes to 8 am PT when I saw a tweet from the BWAA (Boxing Writers Association of America) X account that said, “Incredibly devastating news that our dear friend Tom Gerbasi has passed away. He was an incredible father, grandfather, and sportswriter who cared about everyone. RIP TO A CHAMPION IN LIFE.” Now I’m not going to go into his life story, as there are journalists with a deeper relationship with Tom that will do that. I can only speak to the last six years, but if you ask me, they felt like a lifetime. My initial interaction with Tom was when I first applied to be a member of the BWAA. I was denied and received a general reply, which didn’t provide much context. At the time, Tom was the person processing the applications, so I emailed him and asked him what I could do better to enhance my chances the following year. He emailed me some points, but then said to call him. We spent about an hour on the phone, and he gave me some great advice and led me down the right path. Over the years, we would talk on the phone, catch up, and he would check in to see what I had going on. When it came to getting opportunities to write for the RING magazine and ProBox, Tom was the one who co-signed for me, and that was enough for those in charge to give me a shot. I never took that co-sign for granted as I knew he was putting his reputation on the line for my benefit. That was Tom Gerbasi. That was the man he was on the professional side. On the personal side of things, I got to know Tom more in the last few years, and the things he loved aside from his wife were his granddaughter, a good restaurant, running, and playing goalie. He loved spending time with his wife and sharing pictures of the places they went for lunch and dinner. When it came to his granddaughter, he was a huge teddy bear. Tom and I would often discuss different kids’ shows we could attend, since his granddaughter and my son are around the same age. You had two grown men discussing Danny Go! and Blippi, which was pretty funny. I laugh at those moments and enjoy thinking about them. Aside from that, he played soccer almost every day (at least it seemed that way), and whenever a marathon came up, he would participate in it. Not because he was trying to win it all, but because he wanted to show that he could accomplish something that many wouldn’t even attempt. Tom began writing for my site, FightsATW, a little over a year ago, and his focus was features on wrestlers and wrestling as a whole. Tom would write features on independent wrestlers who were working their way up, and he gave them the attention of a star. He would put 100% effort into every piece, and it was appreciated by everyone involved. That was Tom; always willing to lend a hand to help others reach their goals. My last conversation with Tom was on Wednesday, where I showed him a picture of his book, “The 100 Greatest Fighters,” at a Canelo-Crawford media event. He told me, “Yea, Dana (White) bought 100 of them.” We started to talk about other stuff, but it was nice to see him get his due and receive the support he deserved. Speaking of his just due, in April, he received the highest award a boxing journalist could receive, and that’s the “Nat Fleischer Award: Excellence in Boxing Journalism.” It brings a smile to my face that, before he passed, Tom got his “flowers” from the sport he dedicated so many years to while he could still smell them. Tom had an impact on many, and it showed as comments began to pour in for Tom as news broke out of his passing. This one in particular is from veteran journalist Michael Woods, who goes a lot further back with Tom than I did. If there was a bad word said about Tom Gerbasi, I am unaware. This death has me thinking of the old “only the good die young” adage. Tom was my era, and has to be saluted, because with his passing, we lost someone and something we won’t see again. Gerbasi was a writer/reporter, he came of age soaking up a style that is throwback. In an age where we are encouraged to be facing the camera and opining, he stayed in his lane. That meant being thorough, patient and respectful toward his subject. It meant that he listened more than he spoke. That is a rarity these days. I looked into my gmail, to see when I met and got to know Tom. I cracked up because his email was Mindspring. I still have my AOL account. He helped run Maxboxing, and I did a stint there, so we spoke about things in common, living in NY, having kids, the changing of the makeup of journalism. Also, he was a big boy, like me, so we would chuckle about that. Not a drama guy, as you can tell by the outpouring of sentiment. Solid dude, not one to get into petty professional squabbles. I share this note from Tom on March 14, 2014. The BWAA hierarchy discussed membership entry qualifications. Tom said (excerpt): “While this is a professional organization, the current climate means that several eligible applicants may very well be working for free. I have no problem with this and don’t care about the existence or size of an applicant’s paycheck. What I do care about is the professionalism of the work. If you’ve never covered a fight live, if you’ve never had to work on deadline, if you’ve never been to a boxing gym and talked to people around the sport, or if you’ve never done an interview, you’re automatically not getting my vote. And we’ve had countless people apply who fit this description in one way, shape, or form. “Don’t get me wrong, if not for the internet, I’d probably still be cleaning toilets, but when people like me, Dougie, and Cliff came up, we respected the craft and acted accordingly. We didn’t spend more time tweeting than writing or reporting. We worked. My first story for HouseofBoxing.com, I wrote up a Lou Savarese conference call. I put “I think…” in the story. Mike Katz called me up 30 seconds after that story went live and said “No one gives a f*ck what you think.” And then he hung up. But he made his point. “A lot of our applicants don’t have that heavy hand and tough love guiding them in their work. They think because they’ve seen a few hundred fights on YouTube that they’re journalists. They’re not. But this is what we’re being handed, and when we don’t let someone in, we get blasted on social media for it. Everyone on this email knows exactly what I’m talking about, and we’ve all paid our dues. Let’s keep the highest standards and not give in to those who feel that because they’ve written 800 opinion columns that they deserve to be in the BWAA.” As Katz would say “no one gives a f*ck what you think.” They sure did give a f*ck what Tom wrote, and respect his standards and output. I would spend more time on this, trying to do it justice, but this hits a little too close. Tom didn’t get to 60 but he got stuff done, his legacy is secure, as a sports journalist. Same goes for him as a human being. RIP, Tom. The Boxing World Mourns The Death of A Great Man Tom touched many hearts and minds through both personal interaction and his writing. RIP Tom Gerbasi. You will certainly be missed. Here are some tweets by people from the boxing world on X.
Maple Leafs have strong reason to believe they can sign Connor McDavid
Connor McDavid has still not extended his contract with the Edmonton Oilers as he enters his eighth and final year of his current agreement. McDavid, 28, will be an unrestricted free agent (UFA) in 2026 if he does not reach an agreement with the Oilers, and according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, the Toronto Maple Leafs are wondering "what’s happening" with the Canadian center. “Just like 15 other teams around the NHL, until Connor makes his decision, there are teams that are gonna want to know, ‘Do we have to keep our powder dry for the summer of 2026?’ The Leafs are among them,” said LeBrun. In fact, there is a strong reason to believe that Toronto could sign McDavid, and it is that the Oilers player has recently made statements that could be an important clue about what the future holds for him. The center's words, curiously, are very similar to what Mitch Marner used to say at the time, before moving to the Leafs from the Vegas Golden Knights. Is McDavid's speech a farewell from Edmonton? In September 2024, Marner seemed committed to Toronto, without giving many details about his true intention. “It’s another year of wanting to be the best you can be and help this team win hockey games,” he said then, via the NHL official website. "That’s where my mind is, it’s not thinking of a contract year, and you have to be doing this and that. It’s just another hockey year where you want to be the best you can be to help this team win hockey games and get to the ultimate goal," added Marner. For his part, McDavid's speech goes practically along the same lines. "I’ll take my time and go through everything. I have every intention of winning in Edmonton. It’s my only focus," he said at the end of August of this year, via Sportsnet. "I want the group to be as focused and dialed in and ready to roll from Day 1 as much as possible, and we don’t need any distractions," added McDavid. Unfortunately for the 28-year-old Canadian, his contractual situation has already become a big distraction. History tells us that it is more than likely that in 2026, the center will be defending another jersey.
Raiders' Pete Carroll admits disappointing truth about Ashton Jeanty
The Las Vegas Raiders had high hopes and expectations when they took Boise State phenom Ashton Jeanty with the No. 6 pick in this year's draft. It's becoming increasingly rare to see running backs drafted so high, but after watching him post one of the single greatest seasons in college football history, he looked more than worthy of that honor. So far, however, the 2024 Heisman Trophy finalist has looked quite mortal in his first two games in the pros. Ashton Jeanty hasn't gotten off to a fast start in the NFL He logged 38 yards and one score in his NFL debut, and then logged just 43 yards on 11 carries in the loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 2. That's why Raiders head coach Pete Carroll had to admit that they needed to take things slowly with Jeanty. While he acknowledged that they hadn't done much to put Jeanty in a position to succeed, he remains optimistic about the RB's prospects. "We're just getting started (with Jeanty)," Carroll told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "He's breaking into the NFL. He's figuring it out. He'll get more carries. We have to run the ball more effectively. We only got (68 yards), and that's not enough. We need more than that. We're bringing (Jeanty) along. More will come." Ashton Jeanty knows he has to do better Jeanty is averaging 2.7 yards per attempt, which is a far cry from his 6.4 yards per carry in college. At least he knows he has to be better, and he believes it's just a matter of time before he gets used to the speed of the pros. "Last week it was on me, I didn't do a good job of reading the plays. I'll put it on myself again this week," Jeanty said. "Just getting used to the speed, honestly. Last week kind of felt like I was moving a little slower, this week felt better. Still not there yet, but once it happens, it will be good." Jeanty continued commenting on the situation on Wednesday. He didn't mince words. Jeanty has posted the fewest rushing yards (81) among players with at least 30 carries, and his next chance to turn the page will come in Week 3 against the Washington Commanders' beatable run defense.
Jordan Love predicts breakout performance for young Packers star
The Green Bay Packers will need to spread the ball around in wide receiver Jayden Reed’s absence. Through the first two games of the season, Packers quarterback Jordan Love and first-round rookie wide receiver Matthew Golden haven’t quite been able to get on the same page or nail down their timing. Love believes that’s about to change. “There’s definitely gonna be opps for other guys, but definitely M.G.,” Love told reporters. Jordan Love aiming for explosiveness for Packers Through two weeks, Golden has caught a pair of passes for 16 yards. But with Reed out and a potentially favorable stretch of games upcoming, the rookie’s role could be about to explode in Love’s target hierarchy. “We’re right there,” Love told reporters, of missing Golden on a deep ball against the Commanders. “Just missed, not by much out there. Just have to put a little more air on those balls and let them get a chance to gauge it. “But, I’m always trying to put it out there to give them a chance to get it. It’s a game of inches … ” Love’s propensity for pushing the ball deep downfield is well-documented; the Packers boast one of the league’s most explosive offenses. If Golden’s game-altering speed becomes a more significant factor, Green Bay will be even more difficult to defend than it has looked through the first two games. The Packers will face the Cleveland Browns (0-2) in Week 3.
Customize Your Newsletter
+
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!
PRIVACY POLICY EDITORIAL POLICY CONTACT US
ABOUT YARDBARKER TERMS OF SERVICE
Use of this website (including any and all parts and
components) constitutes your acceptance of these
Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
This site is for entertainment purposes only.
There is no gambling offered on this site.
Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-Gambler.
