‘He had a brutal punch’ – Canelo would like to have knockout power of Mike Tyson if he could choose from any boxer in history
Canelo would love to feel what it’s like to have the punching power of the legendary Mike Tyson.
The current undisputed super-middleweight champion has knockout power of his own, which has seen him smash eye sockets, detach biceps and floor hardened boxers with those body shots.
But he is keen to walk in Tyson’s sizeable boots for a day.
Asked whose punch power he would like to have if he could choose anyone in history, he said it would be ‘Iron Mike’s’.
“He had a brutal punch,” he told DAZN. “Even if he grazed you, he’d knock you out.”
Canelo and Tyson share a mutual respect, having both come from being a shy and bullied outcast to the biggest stars of their eras.
Tyson stormed through the heavyweight division in the 1980s, fighting 15 opponents in his first year, winning them all via knock out and 11 were in the first round.
He became the youngest heavyweight champion in history when he beat Trevor Berbick in 1986 and had unified the division a year later.
After turning pro at 15, Canelo knocked out 11 of his 13 opponents in 19 months (though trainer Eddy Reynoso’s father, Chepo, insists there were another 10 fights on cards so small they never made it on to Canelo’s record).
As a professional, he has only lost once, to Floyd Mayweather in 2013, which he claims was a big learning curve to make him the elite level boxer he is today.
Then just 23 years old, he told Tyson on his podcast: “I needed more experience and maturity [before facing Floyd].
“I don’t think of that fight like a loss. I think of that fight like I learned from that fight.”
Canelo, the biggest star in boxing today, cleaned out the super-middleweight division last year when he beat Caleb Plant and now is eyeing another title at light-heavyweight when he faces Dmitry Bivol on Saturday.
