Mike Tyson has praised both Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua but had words of advice for Joshua and fellow heavyweight Deontay Wilder.
Tyson, 54, is scheduled to fight 51-year-old Roy Jones Jr on November 29. In the build-up to the exhibition fight, Tyson offered his observations on some of the biggest names in his old division.
Speaking to ESPN, Tyson reserved the most praise for Fury, saying: “I think he’s very good. He looks like he’s not intimidating, but he’s really elusive, he really knows how to box.
“He’s really smart and he’s really difficult to hit, and he’s seven-feet, damn near. He’s a monster.”
While impressed by WBC champion Fury, he had constructive criticism for IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO belt-holder Joshua.
“That guy could learn some more. He could be taught some more stuff,” he said.
“I don’t think he’s a paper champion, I just think he’s a big guy.
“It’s hard to fight being that big; it’s very difficult being that big and having to fight a smaller guy.”
With Fury’s most recent rival Wilder in the news for a series of wild claims over their February 2020 fight, Tyson suggested the Bronze Bomber needed to take a step back from the controversy.
“When Wilder gets his head out of his butt, he’s good,” he observed.
“Wilder’s just gotta stop internalizing stuff, this guy is great.
“Just keep on fighting. Fight again – fight [Fury] a third time. Whenever you have an opportunity to fight for the title, he should fight.
“We can only do this for a certain amount of time in our life, and then we can’t do it anymore. So we have to do it as much as we can before we end this stuff.”