Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather conform to a 2026 combat. Here’s what we all know — and do not know. | USAEMALL.com

The boxing world was hit with a big announcement on Thursday night when former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and former multi-division champion Floyd Mayweather said they agreed to a bout to be held in the spring of 2026.  

Details on a date, location, television partner and any potential professional sanctioning of the bout were not immediately released, though both Hall-of-Fame boxers appeared excited about the fight in a press release distributed by CSI Sports.

“I still can’t believe Floyd wants to really do this,” Tyson said in the release. “It’s going to be detrimental to his health, but he wants to do it, so it’s signed and it’s happening!”

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years and there hasn’t been a single fighter that can tarnish my legacy,” Mayweather said. “You already know that if I am going to do something, it’s going to be big and it’s going to be legendary. I’m the best in the business of boxing. This exhibition will give the fans what they want.”

While Mayweather noted that the bout would be an exhibition, meaning it wouldn’t be sanctioned by an athletic commission or count toward either fighter’s professional record, this was not confirmed by the fight promoters. But the sanctioning of the bout is just one of multiple outstanding questions surrounding this clash between two of the biggest names in boxing history. Below, we’ll break down a few others.

Will it be a professional, sanctioned bout?

This is arguably the biggest question surrounding the bout but it’s unlikely to be professionally sanctioned, despite the fact that Tyson just fought his first professional fight in 19 years when he lost to Jake Paul last November. Mayweather has had multiple exhibition bouts since retiring in 2017 following a knockout win against Conor McGregor. But he hasn’t fought professionally since then, when he left the ring with a perfect 50-0 record. Mayweather indicated that the fight with Tyson will be an exhibition but he did not immediately respond to a CBS News request for further comment.

What weight class would the fight be held in?

This will largely depend on whether the bout is professional or an exhibition. If it’s the former, then the boxers will need to agree on a weight limit that they would both be held to. But if it’s an exhibition, which seems to be the case, it’s likely that both boxers will enter the ring around the weight they last fought at. That means Mayweather would be around the middleweight limit, while Tyson is likely to be around the 220-pound range he often fought at as a champion in the 1980s and 1990s. Tyson tipped the scales at 230 pounds for his fight with Paul 10 months ago.

Would the fight be held under non-standard rules?

Whether it’s a pro fight or an exhibition, there may be other, non-standardized rules in play here. Tyson is 59 years old. Mayweather is 48 years old. Boxers in that age range, when they do enter the ring, tend to perform under different rules and regulations. When Tyson fought Paul last fall, for example, the length of the rounds was reduced to two minutes from the standard three. And it was limited to an eight-round fight, when it normally would have been 10 for a non-championship affair. Both boxers also wore heavier gloves in the bout than is the norm, which is likely to be the case for a Tyson-Mayweather affair, too.

Is this a new trend in boxing?

Boxing exhibitions featuring retired champions is nothing new to the sport. Mayweather and former foe Manny Pacquiao have done so multiple times in recent years. While it may not be a boxing purist’s preference, it’s not unusual. 

What is a bit unique, however, is that this will be Tyson’s third fight in approximately six years, after retiring from the sport in 2005. He fought an exhibition against former champion Roy Jones, Jr. in 2020 and Paul last November. Paul, meanwhile, who boxed Tyson as a heavyweight, appears to be moving on to his own exhibition fight against former lightweight champion Gervonta Davis, in an another match between boxers in wildly different weight classes. That fight was announced for November 14.