Mike Tyson isn’t sure if Anthony Joshua or Oleksandr Usyk could beat him in his prime.
Mike Tyson has laughed off suggestions either Oleksandr Usyk or Anthony Joshua would have beaten him in his prime.
Usyk collected the WBA, WBO and IBF world titles in scintillating style on Saturday night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a boxing lesson.
Despite conceding three inches in height, four in reach and nearly 20lbs in weight, the lean and lithe challenger dethroned his far larger opponent with consummate ease in front of more than 60,000 fans.
The fight could have been finished in the final round as Joshua sagged on the ropes amid another onslaught from the Ukrainian and former heavyweight champion Tyson was less than impressed.
Tyson wrote on Twitter: “After watching Joshua vs Usyk fight, maybe they had a bad day that night. From that performance, do you really think they could have beat me in my prime?”
Given his seemingly glaring physical advantages, it seems peculiar that ‘AJ’ chose not to bully Usyk – instead boxing at range.
Having fought 350 times as an amateur, won Gold at the Olympic Games and collected all of the belts at cruiserweight, it effectively played into the hands of the 34-year-old perfectly.
However, the Brit had no regrets about his performance and remains confident he can avenge the defeat in a 2022 rematch.
“If it went well then it would have been perfect but it didn’t so I can’t really look at it and have any regrets,” said Joshua, who disclosed he was unable to see out of a swollen right eye from round nine onwards in north London.
“What I’m happy about is I can go again and I’ve got a chance of becoming heavyweight champion of the world again. Only positives from here moving forward, I’ve had enough of looking at things from a negative point of view.
“I’m not a weak person. I’m not a sulker. I’m not going to go home (and) cry about it because this is war. It’s a long process. This isn’t just one fight and I’m done, I’ve got an opportunity to go back to the drawing board.
“I can’t depend on anyone to pick me up and pat me on the back. That’s why I’m not going to put my head in my palms and cry all night about it. I just want to get back to the gym and get back on the grind so I can improve.
“I’m going to lift myself up. I believe I’ll get a good win in the next fight because of what I’ve learned in this fight. I’m a quick learner and we’ll bounce back.”
