Former undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was not impressed with the last performance by IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO champion Anthony Joshua (21-0, 20 KOs).
Last month, Joshua went the distance for the first time in his career when he won a twelve round unanimous decision over Joseph Parker to unify four world titles before a crowd of nearly 80,000 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.
Joshua clearly won the fight, but his performance was a bit lacking and there were flaws on display.
Before that contest, Tyson felt Joshua would become the man to unify the entire division - but now he's not that sure.
“Joshua looked like he was the guy to [become undisputed champion] but in his last fight, he did not impress me,” Tyson told Showtime.
On the other hand, he likes what he sees from WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs).
Also last month, Wilder survived near disaster in the seventh round of his fight with undefeated Cuban challenger Luis Ortiz. Wilder was badly hurt in the round, but he managed to survive - and then came back with two knockdowns in the tenth round to stop Ortiz.
“[Wilder] is improving, he’s getting better," Tyson said.
Joshua vs. Wilder is arguably the biggest fight in the sport of boxing.
The two boxers are hoping to fight each other in the summer - if their respective teams are able to reach an agreement on the financial terms.
While Tyson is not sure which fighter would come out on top, he's pretty confident about the outcome.
“It will be a knockout. Somebody is getting knocked out,” Tyson said.
And when he asked whether either of the two champions would have had a chance of beating him in his prime, Tyson gave a laugh and a politically correct answer.
“I don’t know, I would have to be there," Tyson said.
2023-10-20 19:41:58
