Mike Tyson has never been shy about speaking his mind on the sport of boxing, and in a recent interview with Ring Magazine’s Manouk Akopyan, Iron Mike delivered sharp verdicts on the current generation, the era debate, and who he believes is getting robbed by the sport’s power brokers.
Benavidez Being Done Dirty
The most passionate moment of the conversation came when Tyson was asked about David Benavidez, who has long been viewed as one of the most avoided fighters in boxing. Tyson didn’t hold back.
He’s being done dirty. Benavidez should have got some of those big fights. He hasn’t gotten no big fight. And that’s going to be something that he’s going to have over boxing — they didn’t give him the good fights. If he doesn’t get the money that he’s supposed to have after he finishes boxing, it’s because boxing screwed him. Not because he was too good — because he was too good and boxing didn’t want to give him a break. Those guys would strip guys of their titles. They didn’t want to fight him.
Benavidez has since moved up to cruiserweight, a division Tyson described bluntly:
Can I be sincere with you? In that division, nobody knows who the hell the champion is. Nobody.
The lack of name recognition at cruiserweight, Tyson suggested, only compounds the challenge Benavidez faces in finally getting the profile fight his talent deserves.
Would Usyk Have Survived Tyson’s Era?
Tyson also weighed in on how current heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk would have fared against the warriors of his generation — and he wasn’t entirely sold.
Holyfield would have gave him a great fight. That’s a different era. You got to kill those guys to beat them. You’re not just going to beat them by being… You got to kill them to beat them. It’s hard to beat these guys without getting a scratch on your face.
Tyson pointed to the sheer volume of title defenses as a key differentiator between eras.
We’re different fighters. The fighters of this era should see that and know that we’re different fighters. We were fighting four times a year, defending the title. These guys are defending their title two times, one time every two years.
Crawford Among the Four Kings?
Asked whether Terence Crawford could have competed alongside Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns, and Marvin Hagler in their prime, Tyson offered measured praise.
There were people back then that weren’t as good a fighter as he was that were champion. He would have done well.
Tyson also named the fighters he most enjoys watching today: Shakur Stevenson, Keyshawn Davis, Crawford, Naoya Inoue, and Jermall Charlo all earned his stamp of approval.
And despite a career built on ferocious rivalries, Tyson was quick to contextualize any harsh words he may have said about past opponents over the years.
Whatever I said about them — derogatory — was because I was fighting them. I have the highest amount of respect for those guys I fought.
Mike Tyson’s comments reflect both admiration for boxing’s past and concern for its present. Ultimately, his remarks underscore a broader point: boxing still has exceptional talent, but the sport must do a better job of delivering the big fights and opportunities that truly allow those fighters to define their legacies.
