Heavyweight great Mike Tyson aired his views on who is the current face of boxing after several high-profile match-ups of late.
“The Baddest Man on the Planet” gave props to Gervonta Davis after his win over Ryan Garcia. Tyson now sees Tank and Garcia as the leaders of the pack.
Mike Tyson’s faces in boxing
“He is truly right. He is the face of boxing,” Tyson told Forbes. “But that’s because Ryan Garcia is the draw. And that makes [Garcia] the face of boxing because of the number of people that he fills in an arena.
“Since that fight, Ryan Garcia fans will turn into Tank’s fans. [Davis] will have the biggest drawing power, I believe.”
“Ryan brought those people out. Normally when the draw gets beaten, like Ryan, when he gets beaten, the people that are his fans are now Tank’s fans.”
After stopping Garcia, Davis said the moment culminated all his hard work.
Gervonta Davis
“This is a fight I’ve wanted for a long time. To be a champion, you have to beat the best. It’s not about the titles. It’s about who you beat. But it’s a testimony to my respect for Gervonta as a fighter.
“I want to be the best. During this whole journey, I put boxing first and the fans first.
“I had to accept a lot of stipulations, but my power comes from within and from above. My strength comes from my heart.”
Tyson says Davis can remain undefeated his entire career after selling over one million Pay Per Views alongside Garcia.
Pound for Pound stars
However, Tyson knows there is some natural talent at 135 to 140 pounds that Davis will have to throw down with eventually.
“It’s a great possibility [that Tank Davis could go undefeated his whole career]. But then you’ve got Devin Haney and Shakur [Stevenson],” he pointed out.
“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 train as hard as they fight. It’s just a strange dynamic in that.”
The cold, hard fact is that Davis is the world’s third-best lightweight behind Haney and Stevenson. He has to beat either or both to become the Pound for Pound King moving forward.
