Fenech: Boxers Not On The Same Level Today
Even at 53 years of age, Mike Tyson would knock former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder out today with a couple of weeks of training according to the former’s ex-coach Jeff Fenech.
Fenech was the trainer of Tyson during the tail-end of the latter’s boxing career and is of the firm belief that boxers today don’t compare to those in the eighties and nineties.
That is even more so the case for the former three-time world champion after witnessing Wilder get stopped by Tyson Fury back in February.
“When Deontay Wilder knocked out (Luis) Ortiz, there was hardly a punch thrown in the fight,” Fenech told Sporting News. “I’d guarantee that if Mike Tyson trained for six weeks, he’d knock Wilder out in a minute.
“He would hit them. If these guys are getting knocked out by Tyson Fury – who’s a great fighter, but not a huge puncher – Tyson would kill these guys. They’re not on the same level today. Mike today, I reckon if he trained he could still beat these guys. Fury’s got these other skills, but Deontay Wilder’s got a punch and nothing else. If you punch him, it’s over. And Mike don’t miss.”
It’s not the first time this topic has been broached. In fact, Wilder himself, has claimed in the past that he would have beaten Tyson during his prime years.
But for Fenech, today’s boxers lack the hunger and ability of the greats.
“Anybody with any brain or who knows anything about boxing in the ’80s and ’90s and before that knows that boxing’s nothing like that today,” he said. “Nothing like it. It’s different today. I look at Roberto Duran, and he could’ve been a 10 time world champion today – he still could. Some of these guys are great, but it’s just not the same today. They make a lot of money and get fame and fortune, but they’re not hungry.
“These fighters today couldn’t have handled Roberto Duran. They couldn’t have beaten Ray Leonard. They couldn’t have beaten Tommy Hearns. Chavez, Alexis Arguello. The list goes on. Those guys were warriors. I think of Roy Jones – he could’ve fought in any era. Chavez could’ve fought in any era. Duran – any era. But some of these guys today, I don’t believe they could.”
When it comes to their primes, there’s no argument that Tyson would have been capable of knocking Wilder out. Doing so with a couple of weeks of training today is an entirely different debate, however.
