• Welterweight

Throw Floyd & Manny in jail if no fight - Mike Tyson

ESPN staff
March 9, 2012
Mike Tyson beat Trevor Berbick to become the youngest world heavyweight champion in history © Getty Images
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Mike Tyson feels Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Manny Pacquiao should be arrested if they fail to agree terms on a super-fight.

Money is proving a huge stumbling block as negotiations between the pair, considered Nos. 1 and 2 in the pound-for-pound rankings, rumble on behind the scenes.

Mayweather wants to receive 100% of the pay-per-view income, while Pacquiao is reportedly only willing to surrender 70% of that amount, which could total as much as $150 million.

That being so, no agreement looks likely - and besides, both have assignments coming up in the next few months: Mayweather meets Miguel Cotto on May 5; Pacquiao takes on Timothy Bradley just over a month later.

And Tyson feels something drastic should be done to ensure that the most eagerly-anticipated fight in boxing actually takes place.

"Listen if I was President I would throw them [Mayweather Jnr and Pacquiao] in jail if they didn't fight," Tyson told Detroit radio station WXYZ. "I'd have them arrested. You can't do that but that's what I would try to do. I'd be like, 'These guys need to get locked up and find a new profession until they get their heads clear.'"

Mayweather is scheduled to begin a 90-day jail term on June 1 because of a domestic violence charge, while Pacquiao could face two years in prison if found guilty of alleged tax discrepancies.

Tyson spent three years in jail following a conviction for rape in 1992.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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