Mike Tyson is set to take on Roy Jones Jr on Saturday in a highly-anticipated exhibition match staged at the Los Angeles Staples Centre.

Tyson, 54, and Jones, 51, may be well past their prime but their legendary status within the sport guarantees huge interest in the heavyweight contest. The fight will be pay-per-view in the US and UK, with BT Sport charging £19.95 to watch the two former champions duke it out.

The fee will once again mean that links to free live streams for people to watch online without paying will likely flood social media in the build up to the fight, with people often sharing them across Facebook and Twitter, as well as through channels and groups on messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram.

Popular sites hosting streams also rank highly on popular search engines using key terms related to the fight, as well as within certain dedicated forums on Reddit – despite efforts by moderators to remove them.

Illicit streaming sites continue to adapt their methods of sharing and the technologies they rely upon to avoid being taken down by authorities, with several recently switching their domain registration to countries or territories that do not have strict copyright laws.

Rather than cracking down on the illusive hosts, police have recently switched their attention to those consuming the illegal content.

UK police recently issued thousands of individual warning notices to people viewing free live streams illegally in an attempt to dissuade users from breaking the law.

Norfolk and Suffolk Constabulary issued the notice, which warned that subscribing to illegal streaming services carries a maximum sentence of up to five years imprisonment and a potential fine.

The letter, titled ‘Unlawful Media Streaming’, stated: “This letter is intended as notification that Norfolk and Suffolk Constabulary Cyber, Intelligence and Serious Organised Crime Directorate are aware of your household’s use of an illegal TV streaming service.”

While those hosting illegal sites and selling unlicensed streaming devices have previously faced prosecution, no one in the UK has ever been imprisoned for simply watching them.