5 Things To Know Ahead of Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather’s Epic Fight

Two of boxing’s greatest champions are stepping into the ring together.

Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather Jr. will face off in a special exhibition match next spring, they confirmed on their respective Instagram accounts on Thursday, September 4.

Coming Soon!! pic.twitter.com/F2wMszXnNe

— Floyd Mayweather (@FloydMayweather) September 5, 2025

“I Fear NO Man but GOD! Let’s Get It!!” Mayweather, 48, captioned his post, along with a bag of money emoji, while Tyson, 59, simply wrote “coming soon” alongside a poster that read “Legend vs Legend.”

Both athletes have participated in exhibition matches following their retirements. Notably, Mayweather fought Logan Paul in 2021, while Tyson lost to the YouTuber’s brother, Jake Paul, in 2024.

Though the boxing legends revealed that their fight would be broadcast live to a worldwide audience, neither gave any indication of where or exactly when it will take place. However, here’s what we do know about what is already being poised as an epic matchup.

They’ve Been Feuding Since 2001

According to a bombshell report in Boxing Junkie in 2015, per Complex, Tyson blamed Mayweather for instigating the police raid at his Las Vegas home in 2001 after a woman called to allege Tyson had kidnapped and sexually assaulted her. (Tyson was not charged with any crime.)

Tyson’s former assistant, Darryl Francis, told the outlet that Tyson was told Mayweather persuaded the woman to file the police report.

“Some serious people said it,” Tyson told Boxing Junkie, though he was unable to find proof. “I’m good with it now…You can forgive, but you have to remember.”

The pair have been trading bars ever since. After Mayweather declared himself the greatest boxer of all time in 2015 during an ESPN Desportes interview, Iron Mike called him “very delusional” in a press conference

“I’ve accomplished more than every fighter in the history of boxing,” Mayweather reiterated in a 2020 appearance on the Club Shay Shay podcast.

“I would kick Floyd’s a** in a street fight, there wouldn’t even be no match,” Tyson told GQ in 2022, though he conceded that his opponent would likely “outpoint me” in the ring, because “he has a really good technique for his style.”

They Have Praised Each Other

Despite the animosity, both have grudgingly acknowledged the other’s greatness from time to time.

“I commend Tyson, because he’s one of the guys that paved the way for me to be where I’m at,” Mayweather told Fox Sports in 2013 after learning that his fellow boxer had called him the last star of the sport.

“He’s a legendary champion. Everyone is always trying to judge Mike Tyson. He lived his life the way he wanted to live his life,” added Mayweather. “No one can say what they would have done if they were in his shoes.”

Tyson made headlines in 2020 for inadvertently praising his enemy while discussing UFC star Conor McGregor, who was knocked out by Mayweather in a 2017 match. “He went 10 rounds with the greatest fighter in the last 100 years of boxing,” Tyson said on his podcast.

It Will Be an Exhibition Fight

Since the bout won’t be sanctioned by an athletic commission, their professional records won’t be affected. Currently both boxers have 50 professional wins. Though Tyson has more knockouts, Mayweather is undefeated.

Tyson, who requested eight two-minute rounds in his fight against Paul, is expected to ask for the same in this match — as opposed to the 12 three-minute rounds in an official match — according to SportBible.

They Have a Significant Weight Difference

The boxers never fought in the same division. Tyson has always fought as a heavyweight, while Mayweather’s 15 major world championships span five weight classes: super featherweight, lightweight, light welterweight and light middleweight.

Because of their weight difference, they “could never” fight, Tyson once told the Wall Street Journal, per The Sun. But if they did, “I wouldn’t fight him the way they fought him. I would be mean, I would be dirty. Because you’d have to do everything to fight him because he’s just so good. It’s impossible to fight him clean.”

One of Them Is More Than 10 Times Richer Than The Other

Tyson — who infamously filed for bankruptcy in 2003, and was reportedly $23 million in debt despite earning $300 million in prize money throughout his career — is now reportedly worth $30 million.

Mayweather — aka “Money” — is reportedly worth $400 million.

“S**t, I’m pretty sure I’d be pretty upset too if I was somebody else,” Mayweather said in an Instagram Story he posted on September 4, in which he sits in a private jet and counts stacks of $100 bills.

“I’d be mad at Mayweather too. How the f**k for 29 years, 30 years, you keep getting money like this? I’d be mad too and s**t, I’d be hating on Mayweather too. Continue to hate. People only talk about winners, I’m a winner, so continue to talk.”