Ohhh but wait what about his considerable Size advantage the people scream.....Prime Tyson would go through this lot like a Bad Indian Currie and he is not in my Top 10 Heavyweights ever.!!!
Think you are getting a little carried away here. We just saw an ATG master boxer the size of 70s George Foreman win on points. This wasn't some universal victory for the little guys. As I said in another thread, let's see how he fairs against Tyson Fury before writing the obituary for the Super Heavyweights.
Joshua is much larger but he struggled with a past it Povetkin. Mike Tyson is better than prime Povetkin at everything let alone a past it Povetkin. And Joshua also lost to Ruiz who has traits like Tyson in terms of being a counter puncher and a pressure fighter. Mike Tyson reached 220 at points before he went to prison, Usyk was 221. And for the love of god Joshua has a glass chin. Joshua wasn't even gassed when he was getting stunned badly by Usyk several times during this fight. This is a terrible match up for Joshua
Why are people acting as if super heavies have never been beaten by smaller guys? Holyfield beat Bowe in 1993 as a 217 lb heavy. Tyson smashed Frank Bruno twice Tyson demolishes AJ in 4 rounds.
It's not that. It's the question of whether small guys from the past could rule a division of super heavies. Holyfield didn't manage to do that, he lost the series to Bowe, and lost his series with Lewis. Bowe and Lewis ushered in the era of the modern Super Heavies. That continued with Klitschkos. Which continued again with Fury, and then Wilder and Joshua. We haven't had "A small heavyweight" rule the division for 30 years. Usyk who isn't a small man, is making a strong case though. But remember Usyk isn't really a small heavy by historical standards. He is just comparatively small for right now. But he does line up nicely with the size of fighters like Ali, Foreman, Holmes
Holyfield was 37 against Lewis, had been a pro for 4 years longer than Lewis, had fought much better competition and had far more wear and tear on his body than Lewis did. Lewis was a late bloomer who was in his prime at 34. Even Lewis's trainer, Manny Steward, admitted Holyfield was past his prime. The fact that Holyfield was remotely competitive vs Lewis when Lewis was in his prime and Holyfield was past his shows that Holyfield would have likely beaten Lewis in his prime. (And lets not compare Bowe-Holyfield to Lewis-Holyfield. Different match ups. Bowe was a great in fighter. Lewis wasn't. Holyfield came close to beating Lewis in fight 2 and i would heavily favour him to beat Lewis in his prime)
Prime Tyson would obliterate AJ and Usyk in 3 rounds. Completely all wrong for both AJ and Usyk. Very mobile, very powerful, very skilled, either would be able to do their work on him.
Tyson is all wrong for AJ. The latter would not land anything meaningful at all due to Tyson's eratic head movement, and given how just a decent puncher in Usyk managed to rock him, as well as Joshua having a tendancy of folding under pressure, it's pretty clear that Tyson would have overwhelmed him and knocked him out.