According to former four division champion Roy Jones Jr, the deal to face Mike Tyson was "too incredible to resist."
Jones will face Tyson in the main event of a pay-per-view card on September 12 in Carson, California.
Their clash will be an eight round exhibition fight, with the California State Athletic Commission watching closely from ringside.
Jones, 51-years-old, has been out of the ring since early 2018, when he defeat Scott Sigmon in a cruiserweight bout.
After that fight, Jones made a promise to walk away from the ring for good.
But when he was approached with the overall terms to face Tyson, he found the opportunity too good to pass up.
“Too hard to resist, too incredible to resist, too much of a blessing to resist,” Jones told MMA Junkie.
“When I won the heavyweight title, I told them the only other person I would fight as a heavyweight was Mike Tyson. If Mike Tyson didn’t want to fight, I was going back down to light heavyweight. From what I got … was that he was through with boxing, he didn’t want to box no more, so I left and went back to light heavyweight. I didn’t stick around, but to have him come out now and say, ‘OK, I want to come back. Guess what? You wanted it, you get your opportunity.’ I’m like, ‘Yes.’”
Tyson, 54-years-old, has been out of the ring since 2005. The last time Tyson was seen by fans in a sanctioned fight, the former undisputed heavyweight champion was stopped by journeyman contender Kevin McBride.
A few months ago, Tyson began to release training video - some of which went viral on social media. He promised to stage a series of exhibition fights for charitable purposes, but the pay-per-view cost of watching his upcoming fight with Jones will be $50.