Throughout his career, Mike Tyson has fascinated as much as impressed with his ferocity, both in and out of the ring. He worked his way up to the title of World Heavyweight Champion (the youngest in history!) with knockout blows in the first round. And even after his release from prison, he didn't just buy a tiger, he also continued to deliver brutal performances.
Discover our latest podcast
You only have to see videos of his sparring at the time to understand that he always fought in this way, as his performances as an amateur, at only 15 years old, also prove. Iron Mike was never afraid to go and knock out his opponents, even in front of a group of 10 bouncers...
In order to not get hurt
However, in an exclusive interview with Yahoo Sport France, he confided that he was trying to knock out his opponents as quickly as possible for another reason than the pleasure of a knockout.
‘I just wanted to reduce the chances of getting hit or injured. My main objective was to beat my opponent as quickly as possible to avoid injury. I just wanted to get it over with quickly.’ A logical explanation, but one that doesn't come to mind when you look back at his previous fights, as the urge to fight seemed to be so strong.
The best current boxer according to Tyson
Also questioned about current boxing, the American confided that he no longer watched much of the sport he used to practice. He prefers to focus on the present and doesn't like to look back on his career, and current boxers remind him too much of what he used to be.
He still talked about who his favourite fighter is, and his response proves that Mike is a man of taste! ‘I don’t follow boxing much anymore. I just saw on TV this Ukrainian boxer, Vasyl Lomachenko, he's a very good one. He's the best boxer right now, he's gorgeous. Better than Floyd Mayweather or Canelo, better than all of them!’
Not very surprising that he prefers him to Mayweather, when you know the animosity he has towards the man who likes to call himself ‘Money.’
