ROY JONES JR has stated that both he and upcoming opponent Mike Tyson would have inflicted defeats on Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua during their prime.
Ahead of his eight-round exhibition bout against the Baddest Man on the Planet on September 12, Captain Hook has reflected on the current crop of heavyweight stars.
Jones Jr, 51, won world titles in four weight classes from middleweight to heavyweight, where he earned a reputation as being a fearsome puncher.
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And no fighter intimidated others like Tyson who is arguably the hardest-hitting heavyweight in history, with 44 of his 50 wins coming by way of knockout.
But even though the pair have 15 defeats between them – compared to just one between Fury and AJ – Jones Jr insists they’d have been too good for them during their 1990s heydays.
Speaking to Sky Sports on whether he and Tyson could beat the current champions he said: “Not right now.
“It would be hard for us to last 12 rounds with any of those guys. They are skilled fighters, not bad boxers.
PRIME TIME
“They are not as skilled as we were but they are in their primes, and we are not.
“In our primes? We would probably have beaten them. You can never say, but I think we would probably have beaten them.
“Our skill level was deeper, at that time, than it is now. In our prime we would have come out on top against most of those guys.
“But you never know because it never happened so you can’t discredit those guys. They are good fighters, well-respected fighters, and my hat is off to them because they are at the top.”
When asked how he would have approached a fight against Fury, AJ or Deontay Wilder, he added: “Joshua? I would have boxed, moved around and made him move his feet to punch.
“[Fury and Wilder]? I would stay close to. Just like Tyson does – I would have stayed on their chest all night.
“Joshua is the only one I would box on the outside because he isn’t as tall as they are. I would have boxed him on the outside, but the other two I would box on the inside.”
