Tyson: Brilliant Joshua is ready to dominate the sport for years
MIKE TYSON has likened Anthony Joshua’s epic victory over Wladimir Klitschko to the way his sensational knockouts once revitalised the sport. The scale of Joshua’s sudden importance to boxing and its marquee division was spelled out thus by Tyson: ‘When a new heavyweight champion wins the world title as explosively as that, it changes the whole game. ‘That was a great fight. I thought this was just some jumped-up young guy from England. But man, he fought well. No one has done that to Klitschko before.’ Tyson identified much of his old scary self in Joshua when he analysed Saturday night’s unforgettable occasion and its thunderous 11th-round climax: ‘Importantly, Joshua showed heart. He went down from a big punch by Klitschko but he didn’t give up, he got back up. That was real intestinal fortitude. There’s no quit in him. I also love that he goes out to hurt his opponent. That’s what boxing is all about but most fighters don’t have that hunger.’ There speaks the Baddest Man on the Planet, who threatened to drive one opponent’s nose bone into his brain and said he wanted to eat the children of Lennox Lewis. Tyson, speaking to ESPN while scouting venues for his Boxing Academy franchise in Dubai, made an apparent reference to Floyd Mayweather’s huge earnings when he said: ‘All the little guys who have been making a lot of money won’t be making so much any more. ‘This one fight has changed boxing. It’s going to be all about Joshua and the heavyweights now. He’s going to dominate and make so much money if he keeps doing what he did at Wembley.’ Tyson sees similarities in his and Joshua’s upbringing, saying: ‘If you are of AfroEnglish background you’re likely to have a tough time. If you’re born in the wrong part of town you’re going to be financially challenged, scholastically challenged. ‘Boxing gives kids like me and Joshua an outlet. You can take a guy with nothing, clean him up and the next thing he’s meeting the President of the United States or the Prime Minister.’