Mike Tyson recently spoke with Alfred Konuwa of Forbes for an in-depth interview. Here are the highlights:
On Gervonta Davis being the face of boxing:
“He is truly right, he is the face of boxing,” Tyson said. “But that’s because Ryan Garcia is the draw. And that makes [Garcia] the face of boxing because of the amount of people that he fills in an arena. Since that fight, Ryan Garcia fans will turn into Tank’s fans, and [Davis] is going to have the biggest drawing power, I believe.”
“Ryan brought those people out, and normally when the draw gets beaten, like Ryan, when he gets beaten, the people that are his fans are now Tank’s fans.”
On who can beat Gervonta Davis:
It’s a great possibility [that Tank Davis could go undefeated his whole career], but then you’ve got Devin Haney and Shakur [Stevenson],” said Tyson.
“Those guys are very good. Those are the only two guys who are possibly a threat to him.”
“I know they’ve boxed before, and some people got the advantage over others in sparring, but sparring’s not like fighting. For some reason, people don’t fight as hard as they spar, or some people don’t train as hard as they fight, it’s just a strange dynamic in that.”
On Heels being the biggest draws:
“I’m in the wrestling Hall of Fame,” Tyson proudly stated. “I loved wrestling all my life, the Valiant Brothers, Bruno Sammartino, that’s just who I was: the arrogant talker and the bad guy who people booed. That’s when I realized you can’t remember the good guy without the bad guy. That’s what makes the good guy famous, is the bad guy. The good guy is nothing without the bad guy, the bad guy is the biggest draw. That’s why Floyd Mayweather and myself were the biggest draws because we were the bad guys.”
“Hate is really close to love,” Tyson continued. “And just as much as you could love somebody, you could always have the opportunity to hate him. And just like you could hate somebody, he’ll always give you the opportunity to love him because of how he handles his adversity.”
“When I see him looking good and doing well, I always stick up for him because when he makes all the money himself, I get the credit, too. Because without me he would have never had a platform.”
“I don’t think he’s really that serious [about a boxing match], but I’m just happy he’s receiving the success that the has. For my ego, I feel I had so much to do with that.”
On a possible WWE Match with Logan Paul:
“Have you ever seen me wrestle before?” joked Tyson before admitting he’d be interested in a WWE match against Paul.
“I would do it! I would kick his [expletive] ass, yes I would do it. Even though I love him though (laughs),” said Tyson.
“This is what I found out about WrestleMania: Everybody says ‘that’s fake, that’s fake. But the check is real. Deep down inside—don’t let [WWE] know—I would do this for free.”
On UFC-WWE merger and why Endeavor should add boxing:
“Why wouldn’t boxing do the same?” asked Tyson.
“It would be something similar to the Rockefellers because when he monopolized the whole oil system, and then they made him break it up, he had more money breaking it up than he did monopolizing it.”
“I think if they all formed together, they could highlight together. They could all be seen together. Fighters would all be fighting in a square ring at one time, still with the ropes and everything. We have to make combat sports have such an affinity with the combat world that it’s going to be the biggest athletic sport from the beginning of the journey to the end. We have to change sports and turn it into a total entertainment field. Total entertainment. Masks, costumes, all that stuff. Everything. Take it to its highest potential to the imagination of everybody. Almost become God status.”
“Boxing alone—fighting alone—won’t last. Entertainment will last forever. That’s why the fighter has to be exciting. Entertainment can last forever,” said Tyson.
“In boxing, a guy can have a really stinkin’ fight, and they’ll use him again. In MMA and wrestling, if you don’t draw people and you’re stinkin’ the place out, you’ll never see that guy again. In boxing, if anybody stinks the place out, he should fight in Alaska somewhere.
“It’s about entertaining. Even the gloves—the special gloves made—that’s entertainment, too. The size of all the fighters being showcased. Something where people could go ‘wow, he’s got that big of hands?!’ Or ‘wow, he’s got small hands.’ Anything the people have to constantly be thinking about. And when you’re not fighting, the people should be thinking ‘when’s the next time the guy is gonna fight again?'”
You can watch the complete interview below:
