Mike Tyson vs. Muhammad Ali: The two legendary heavyweight boxers squared off in a recent video game competition, with Tyson winning.
Anthony Joshua, the current world champion, said Ali would have difficulty facing one of the most dreadful punchers in boxing history.
But Tyson told Yahoo: “I know it’s a fantasy game.
“Most likely I would win the fantasy, but I wouldn’t win the real fight. Ali’s the greatest there’s ever been.”
When Tyson defeated Trevor Berbick at the age of 20, he set a record for being the sport’s youngest heavyweight champion.
Then in 1978, after avenging his earlier loss to Leon Spinks, Ali became the first person to win the heavyweight title three times.
But Joshua told JD Sports: “It’s quite interesting because in the era of Muhammad Ali’s heavyweight reign, the heavyweights were ranked as the cruiserweights of the Mike Tyson era.
“With Lennox Lewis, you know how they started getting bigger, hence why in the amateurs they then created a super-heavyweight division.
“The current heavyweight division in the amateurs is what we class as the cruiserweight division.
“So Muhammad Ali wouldn’t have been a fully fledged heavyweight.
“So let’s say we bulked Muhammad Ali up and put size and strength to him, I truly believe Mike Tyson would’ve won.
“The reason being when you watch the fight with Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, you see a certain Tyson-esque to Frazier’s style.
“Tyson used to study that Joe Frazier. The moving, the hooks. He managed to put Ali down in the fight, it was a very tough fight for Ali.
“And I just believe Mike Tyson was better schooled, times have evolved, Mike Tyson was more developed. More science, more information.
“So I think that Mike Tyson would’ve won, in my humble opinion.”