Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson and Oleksandr Usyk will always be revered names in the heavyweight boxing world.
Tyson very much burst onto the scene in the late eighties with his fearsome knockout power. He stopped all 12 of his first opponents inside the opening round, and didn’t go past six until his 19th fight. At 20 he became the youngest ever world heavyweight champion. Across his career he beat Frank Bruno twice, took an upset loss to Buster Douglas in Tokyo and had two fights with Evander Holyfield, one of which was infamous for him biting a chunk of ear off his opponent.
Lewis beat Tyson late in his career and had two shock losses of his own against Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman but avenged both on his way to becoming undisputed champion. He retired in 2003 after a final bloody battle with Vitali Klitschko.
Usyk was the latest man – and only one since Lewis – to clean up all major belts in the heavyweight division when he beat Tyson Fury in May of this year. Next month, the pair will fight it out for supremacy once more with a much-anticipated rematch in Saudi Arabia.
In a game of winner stays on with Mail Sport Boxing, Lewis was asked to pick between Tyson and Usyk. He went with his former opponent.
“Mike Tyson.”
The fight would be a fascinating clash of styles, with Tyson’s raw power delivered from smart angles up against the elite movement and boxing brain of Ukraine’s Usyk.
