Larry Holmes Gave Honest Response When Asked If Mike Tyson Would Have Survived In His Era

Tyson rose to stardom in the mid-1980’s where he became the world heavyweight champion for the first time with a sensational second round knockout victory over Trevor Berbick in 1986, capturing the WBC title and becoming the youngest ever heavyweight champion in history.

‘Iron’ Mike went on to make nine successful defences of his crown, picking up the WBA and IBF titles along the way with victories over James Smith and Tony Tucker to become the undisputed heavyweight champion.

Tyson also defeated Holmes and Michael Spinks during his first world title reign before he was beaten by James ‘Buster’ Douglas in what is still described by many as the greatest upset in boxing history.

In an interview with Bryant Gumble, Holmes, best known as ‘The Easton Assassin’, made a sensational claim that ‘Iron’ Mike would have been a nobody if he had fought during his era, which included the likes of Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and Ken Norton.

“Everybody in this room here would have been able to beat Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson was born right. You’d have never heard of him [in our era].”

Tyson faced Holmes when the latter was past his formidable best, stopping the former long-reigning world heavyweight champion in the fourth round of their contest which took place in January 1988.

‘The Easton Assassin’ would go on to box for 14 more years before he would walk away from the sport in the summer of 2002, falling short in world title challenges against Evander Holyfield and Oliver McCall respectively.