ROY JONES JR has sparked a war of words with veteran rival Mike Tyson by branding him a “pitbull puppy.”

The pair of boxing legends, who have a combined age of 105, step inside the ring for an exhibition bout on September 12 in California.

Iron Mike hasn’t fought since 2005 while Jones Jr’s last scrap was just two years ago.

And Jones Jr needed little encouragement when asked how is he going to approach the fight against his unpredictable opponent.

Reported by Mundo Deportivo, the 51-year-old said: “I know how to have fun in the ring, trying to do my best, but at the same time I know Mike.

“Mike is like a pitbull puppy.

“He gets lost in his mind and the only thing he knows is’ I’m going for the fight’, that’s the only thing he knows, going for the fight.

“I have to be prepared for what Mike does. I want to box and have a fun time and put on a good show for people too.

“He’s not the type of person who’s going to go out and do that. All he knows is to go and try to take his head off.”

Tyson won 50 of his 58 career scraps with 44 of those coming as knockouts.

And after getting himself back into extraordinary shape, Tyson appears in no mood to go easy on his opponent.

Tyson revealed he has lost five stone to make his eagerly-anticipated comeback and is now training at 220 pounds, or 15.7st, putting him comfortably below the level Anthony Joshua last fought at.

He is in such good shape, that ex-trainer Jeff Fenech believes Tyson would still beat hard-hitting American Deontay Wilder today.

He told Sporting News: “Boxing’s not the same now. I’d guarantee that if Mike Tyson trained for six weeks, he’d knock Wilder out in a minute.

“He would hit them. If these guys are getting knocked out by Tyson Fury – who’s a great fighter, but not a huge puncher – Tyson would kill these guys.

“They’re not on the same level today.

“Mike today, I reckon if he trained he could still beat these guys.