WWE star Bobby Lashley threw a real curveball today when he claimed that he was approached about a Bare knuckle boxing event featuring himself and the former WBC heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.
Unlike many other proposed opponents for Tyson, Lashley is of similar age. Lashley is currently 46 while Tyson is 56. Quite a departure from either Paul brother.
While Lashley comes from a pro wrestling background he’s no stranger to striking. He had a successful MMA career having won 15 out of 17 professional events he was in.
Lashley went 5-0 in Bellator, arguably the second biggest MMA promotion, before walking away from the sport in 2016.
In a recent interview with Fightful, Lashley revealed that he has been approached ‘by a bare-knuckle boxing company rep’ about a potential bout against Tyson at Madison Square Garden.
Steven Muehlhausen of DAZN has since confirmed that Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship [BKFC], who will hold a show in London on August 20, was the ‘bare-knuckle boxing company’ that Lashley referenced.
“Confirmed: The company that has approached Lashley is Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC),” Muehlhausen tweeted.
“Lashley has talked with them in the past as has Tyson, but money was a stumbling block then and isn’t the case now. Tyson is back training in the gym with Rafael Cordeiro.”
Lashley is aware of the risk but can’t help but enjoy a challenge:
” Look at the upside; if I were to catch ‘Iron Mike’ with a punch to put him down, I’m the greatest person in the world. I’m in movies, I’m everywhere, I’m the biggest sports star in the entire world if that ever happened.””
It’s unclear if Tyson is interested in this modality.