Interesting parallels between Anthony Joshua and Mike Tyson

A-side Tyson was lucky he was feasting on a steady diet of bums, crackheads, smackheads and small heavyweights in the 80's. 6'5 + 235 lbs + not a bum was unheard of in those days, let alone any bigger than that.

AJ at his best is a very good boxer, he would have been top 3 in any era other than this one based on his combination of size, athleticism, skill, experience, discipline and work ethic. He's just run into a brick wall against one of the top 3 of this era.

 

Both have criminal records

Both bodybuilders with suspect gas tanks

Both privileged A-side fighters

Both had elite patronage from early on in their careers

 

Ruiz is in the same category as Douglas, McCall, Rahman, Puritty, Sanders and Brewster, arguably Byrd too.

The middleweight is a bigger, better and southpaw version of Holyfield.

The best opponents beaten by Tyson, Vitali and Wilder are not more impressive than AJ's best win.

 

Overhyped does not equal bum. Tyson wasn't a bum but he was absurdly overhyped, hence he was always an enormous favourite in the fights he lost, even against Holyfield who leathered him the first time. "Tysonmania" was a thing, people simply didn't believe he could lose, even after he lost! AJ's hype was not quite to the same degree (especially after he lost) but it was similar in kind. People saw him as a kind of 6'6 Mike Tyson. Even American Dubblechin thought he was the superior fighter to Wilder.

"Stylistically, Iron Mike is all wrong for Usyk who is a great fighter but has nothing to hold off Tyson. Usyk would have been knocked out sooner, rather than later."

Some of prime Tyson's best opponents like Thomas, Biggs and Tucker were known smackheads and crackheads and none of them were nearly as good as Usyk. Even a fringe contender/high level journeyman in Ribalta, who Tyson outweighed, was able to virtually go the 10 round distance with Tyson minus a political stoppage because 1. He had a huge height and reach advantage 2. He was tough 3. He wasn't afraid of Tyson. Tillis, another fighter who was taller but lighter than Tyson (smaller than Usyk) with a journeyman record and on a terrible run of form, came very close to beating Tyson over 10 by sticking and moving and making him helpless by tying him up, again because he showed the ability to take Tyson's power and wasn't afraid of him.

Neither Tillis or Ribalta were especially big punchers but you don't need to be: self-described blown-up SMW Byrd was able to have Tua stop, slow down, move back, flinch and cover up while throwing punches at him. Taking shots tires you out and compromises your performance even if you don't get KO'd. It's also inconsistent to claim that Ali would probably beat Tyson when Usyk has a superior chin to Ali and seems to be a bigger puncher when examining the size of the men they stopped and didn't stop in their careers at a similar point. By your standard the featherfisted Ali would have nothing to keep Tyson off, would be stylistically overmatched and get blown out early by Tyson's deadly left hook.

Tyson's opponents were typically terrified of him and were thus quick to fall over and Tyson was a typical A-side fighter, who always had the officials and the setup of the event in his favour. On a level playing field Usyk would be relatively advantaged and Tyson disadvantaged and Usyk is mentally stronger than Tyson's opponents and Tyson himself, as well as 5 inches taller with 7 inches more reach and about the same weight if not slightly heavier.

It's a stretch to claim that Tyson is stylistically all wrong for Usyk when Tyson struggled with determined movers and never fought a southpaw in his 58 fight career. Whether he was steered away from them or whether there weren't any to fight for whatever reason is not really important; Tyson has zero experience in this regard and thus could be expected to struggle, as even fighters with experience sparring and fighting southpaws find them awkward opponents. Usyk has never been overwhelmed by the pressure of much bigger men (or even dropped with a chin shot in 376 fights) than Tyson and he's always been able to pick them off after they gassed out, with stamina and output not being Tyson's forte with all that roid bulk at 5'10. Discipline in the ring was also not Tyson's forte and he could be expected to start trying to bite Usyk (who Tyson would be under enormous pressure not to lose to) or twist his arm as soon as things went against him.

I'd favour Tyson over Joshua because Joshua has shown a lot of mental fragility and I could imagine him coming unstuck under pressure. But Wilder has the dimensions (8.5 inches of height, 12/13 inches of reach) toughness and athleticism to cause Tyson a lot of problems as well as superior one-punch power and mental determination to Tyson. If Douglas and Holyfield could KO Tyson I can't see Tyson taking too many of Wilder's right hands to the head after Wilder had weathered the first 4 rounds.