Mike Tyson has opened up on how a fight between himself and two-time undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk would have played out.
Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history at 20 years of age, while Usyk came up from cruiserweight to beat some of the decade’s best fighters.
Following the Ukrainian’s move up to heavyweight, many have questioned just where he belongs amongst some of the greats.
Usyk has beaten Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois twice respectively.
He is also set to partake in a history-making contest against kickboxing great, Rico Verhoeven, which will only add to the lasting legacy he leaves behind.
Tyson spoke to The Ring Magazine and said he would’ve loved to share the ring with the Ukrainian.
“I would have absolutely embraced fighting Usyk.
“Usyk is pretty active for a modern-day heavyweight, though.”
‘Iron Mike’ continued by comparing the activity of today’s heavyweights to when he was an active champion.
𝙁𝙐𝙍𝙔 𝙒𝘼𝙍𝙉𝙎 𝘼𝙂𝘼𝙄𝙉𝙎𝙏 𝙒𝙍𝙄𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙊𝙁𝙁 𝙍𝙄𝘾𝙊 𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙃𝙊𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙉 𝘼𝙂𝘼𝙄𝙉𝙎𝙏 𝙊𝙇𝙀𝙆𝙎𝘼𝙉𝘿𝙍 𝙐𝙎𝙔𝙆
“We have sparred Rico for years we have gone back a long time, he has known us for over 10 years.
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“We’re different fighters. The fighters in this era should see that. We were more active than they were.
“We were defending titles four times a year in my era. Now these guys are defending their title once every two years.”
Usyk’s fight against Verhoeven will be his fourth in 24 months.
Another name Tyson brought up that would’ve provided a great challenge to the reigning world champion is Evander Holyfield.
“Holyfield would have given him a great fight. That’s a different era.
“You have to kill those guys to beat them. It’s hard to beat these guys without getting a scratch on your face.”
Tyson shared the ring with Holyfield twice. He was stopped in the 11th round of their first encounter and infamously disqualified in their rematch for biting his opponent’s ear.
Despite Usyk, now 39 years old, heading into the final stages of his career, he has named three fights that he wants before calling it a day.
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He spoke to Inside The Ring.
The first obviously being Rico Verhoeven, trained by Peter Fury.
Next he sees himself fighting the winner of Fabio Wardley and Daniel Dubois, who fight on May 9th for Wardley’s WBA crown.
And finally Usyk wants a monumental trilogy with Tyson Fury after beating him twice already.
“Rico [Verhoeven], this is the first. Second, it is whoever wins Wardley or Dubois, and the third fight will be my friend ‘Greedy Belly’, Tyson Fury.”
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