Tyson lands knockout blow against professionals at Rio

BEIJING: Mike Tyson has branded the Amateur International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) decision to let professional fighters take part in the 2016 Rio Olympics as “ridiculous” and “foolish”.

Professional boxers would feature at the Olympic games as long as a constitutional change went through in June, AIBA said earlier this year.

Former world heavyweight champion Tyson, who as an amateur won gold at the 1981 and 1982 Junior Olympic Games, said on Wednesday that professional boxers would be stunned by the fast-paced fighting style of the amateur fighters.

“It’s ridiculous. It’s foolish, and some of the pro fighters are going to get beaten by the amateurs. It’s just going to happen, and I really believe that,” the 49-year-old told Reuters TV in China, where he is attending the 33rd IBF convention.

“If they are like the amateur fighters that I was fighting in the 80s, they are going to beat some of the champions. It’s just going to happen.”