Mike Tyson has offered his take on whether Oleksandr Usyk would have competed with the “warhorses” of his era, including the likes of Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis.
The 1990’s was brimming with heavyweight talent, with ‘Iron Mike’ becoming a two-time world champion after suffering a shock defeat to James ‘Buster’ Douglas.
As a result of his stoppage victory over Frank Bruno in ’96, Tyson was then made a sizable favourite ahead of his clash with Holyfield later that year.
It was therefore considered an almighty upset when ‘The Real Deal’ stopped his man in round 11, before winning their immediate rematch by fourth-round disqualification.
Holyfield then went on to face Lewis, who unanimously outpointed the American in 1999 after the pair boxed to a controversial draw earlier that year.
And so, given their prolific activity and never-say-die attitudes, Tyson feels that his era was drastically different to the current generation of heavyweight boxing.
Because of this, he has told Ring Magazine that Usyk would have had a tough time with the likes of himself, Holyfield and Lewis, but admits the Ukrainian would make for a compelling fight against a prime Holyfield, in particular.
“Holyfield would have [given] him a great fight. That’s a different era – you’ve got to kill those guys to beat them. It’s hard to beat these guys without getting a scratch on your face.
“The fighters in this era should know that we’re different fighters. We were more active than they are. These guys were defending their title four times a year, in my era.
“These guys [in this era] are defending their title once every two years. The guys in my era were warhorses – they fought to the finish.”
While we will never know how Usyk would have fared in the 90s, it could be said with far more certainty that he has established himself as the greatest heavyweight of this era.
With two victories over Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois, respectively, as well as his accolades at 200lbs, there is no denying the 39-year-old’s supremacy across two weight divisions.
