One of Mike Tyson's former opponents believes the American would've beaten current champion Oleksandr Usyk in his prime.
Usyk is regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time after a sensational career to date. The 38-year-old, who won gold at the 2012 Olympics in London, defeated Daniel Dubois on Saturday to become the undisputed heavyweight champion for a second time.
Usyk, who picked up a significant paycheck for fighting Dubois, boasts a perfect 24-0 record at the professional level and was also an undisputed champion during his days as a cruiserweight. There's now talk of a third fight between Usyk and Tyson Fury
While no one has come close to beating Usyk yet, Kevin McBride, who famously defeated Tyson 20 years ago, believes the Ukrainian wouldn't have stood a chance against 'Iron Mike' back in his heyday. Like Usyk, Tyson was also an undisputed heavyweight champion.
"I’ve got a huge amount of respect for Oleksandr Usyk, an all-time great fighter," McBride told OLBG. "He's smart, technical, and he’s done incredible things at cruiserweight and heavyweight: beating Joshua twice, Fury twice, unifying titles, all of that.
"But when people start talking about how he’d do against Mike Tyson in his prime? Usyk wouldn’t stand a chance. Styles makes fights, and Usyk ain't no Muhammad Ali.
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"Mike in the late 1980s was a completely different animal. No one could stand up to his massive power. He wasn’t just a puncher; he had speed, timing, head movement, and he came in with pure bad intentions."
Tyson became the youngest heavyweight world champion in history, doing so aged just 20, and reigned as the undisputed heavyweight champion between 1987 and 1990. But unlike Uysk, he was beaten seven times during his professional career.
Tyson's most recent defeat came just last November when, aged 58, he lost to YouTuber Jake Paul via unanimous decision.
McBride, who never claimed a world title and won 35 of his 46 fights, drawing once, added: "Usyk’s style is built on movement, staying elusive, picking his shots, and that works against guys his size or bigger who are a bit more robotic.
"But Tyson was a smaller heavyweight himself, just like Usyk, and he thrived on closing distance.
"He would’ve cut the ring off in seconds, slipped those jabs, and launched bombs to the body and head. You can’t out-slick a prime Tyson for twelve rounds; he only needed two or three clean shots to end your night.
"People forget how ferocious Tyson really was. He wasn’t just intimidating, he was efficient and explosive. Usyk might have made it a chess match for a round, maybe two. But once Mike got inside, that’s it. Lights out.
"I fought Tyson at the very end of his career, and even then you could still feel the danger. Put Usyk in with the prime version of Mike Tyson? He’d be on the canvas early, no doubt about it."
