IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua has no problems with former champion Mike Tyson putting out videos and fighting other old-timers like himself. Still, he says he shouldn’t even consider coming back to take on the young lions in the division. That’s a bridge too war for Tyson, according to Joshua.
The way that Tyson is still punching, he’s more than capable of knocking out Joshua if he connects with his power shots. Tyson is again hitting with massive power, and we’ve already seen how chinny Joshua is at times.
AJ says boxing has changed since Mike Tyson dominated the heavyweight division in the 1980s and 1990s. Today’s heavyweights are younger, bigger, and more durable than the guys in Tyson’s era, says Joshua.
AJ’s warning is needless right now, as the 54-year-old Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs) is only talking of wanting to return to the ring to fight exhibition matches against older fighters.
He’s scheduled to face 51-year-old Roy Jones Jr on September 12 at the Dignity Health Sports Park, in Carson, California. The fight will be on pay-per-view.
“To someone watching from home, it looks like this guy is going to come and rule the heavyweight division,” said Joshua to Sky Sports on Mike Tyson’s video workouts that he’s been posting on social media.
“It’s what they’ve known. Good luck to them both, it’s all they know. They haven’t got to do it to compete with the young lions in the division now.
“We’re bigger, we’re stronger, sports science has improved so there is more technology,” said Joshua.
It almost sounds like Joshua is insecure or jealous about the 54-year-old Mike Tyson coming back, and getting a lot of attention from fans. A lot of people have been looking at Tyson’s video workouts and openly wondering if he could beat all the heavyweights in this era.
Even at his advanced age, Tyson looks a lot more impressive than the top heavyweights like Joshua, Fury, Deontay Wilder, and Dillian Whyte.
The heavyweights are a lot bigger in this era compared to when Tyson was fighting. There were guys as big as Tyson Fury and Joshua around in Tyson’s era, but they didn’t compete in boxing.
The more prominent athletes have gone to the NBA and NFL rather than boxing, and that’s been a pattern for a long time.
“The whole sporting world has kind of developed,” said Joshua. “If Mike Tyson wants to come back and fight someone from his era for the love of the sport, crack on, I wish them well.”
Tyson might choose to go after one of the young lions in the division if he wipes out Roy Jones Jr on September 12. If Tyson beats Jones with ease, that’ll give him a confidence boost to enable him to consider coming back for real
The money opportunities out there for Tyson would be tremendous. He’s going to get paid well for his fight against Roy Jones Jr, but he can make better money if he faces one of the talented fighters in the division.