JOSHUA’S TY ‘N’ MIGHTY
Iron Mike ‘no match for AJ’
LARRY HOLMES believes Anthony Joshua would have destroyed Mike Tyson at his peak.
The heavyweight icon is a big fan of the current WBA and IBF champion and believes the Brit would have had no problem dealing with the one-time “baddest man on the planet”.
Tyson was a fearsome wrecking machine when he stopped a 38-year-old Holmes in four rounds in 1988.
Yet Holmes says man-mountain Joshua would have easily dealt with the 5ft 10in slugger.
“If he fought a guy like Mike Tyson, he’d win,” said Holmes. “He would have knocked out a prime Mike Tyson.
“Mike Tyson went down low and then came up and tried to throw roundhouses.
“But Joshua would just hit him with a straight right hand on the side of his damn chin and Mike wouldn’t get up.
Puncher
“He never fought anyone who was coming up and trying to make their way in the sport. He just went in there – bang, bang, bang and knocked everyone out. That’s how he got the reputation as a puncher.
“I’m not taking anything away from Mike Tyson – he kicked my ass. But I was out for two years, I had quit boxing, I hadn’t done anything apart from sing with the band and travel.”
Joshua, who towers over most at 6ft 6in, faces Carlos Takam – short, like Tyson – on Saturday at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. Unfortunately for fans, the Frenchman is nowhere near the level of “Iron Mike” and will give the defending champion little trouble.
But it is a step the 2012 Olympic gold medallist must take as he looks to conquer and unify the division.
However Holmes, world champion from 1978-85, did warn the 28-year-old Brit against overtraining.
“You’ve got to take it round by round and take your days off,” he said.
“I took two days off a week, Wednesdays and Sundays. I didn’t do anything on those days but sit around and hang out.” O Larry Holmes was speaking on behalf of TAGHeuer, who have launched the Muhammad Ali Limited Edition Timepiece to help finance the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky.