The age-old question of who the most devastating heavyweight puncher is of all-time appears to have been answered with a staggering 74% of people more inclined to fight Deontay Wilder over Mike Tyson over three rounds for £1m, a poll has revealed.
Recognised as two of the most fearsome punchers of their generations, Tyson, who earned the nickname ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’, only saw the distance six times in victory, blowing away 44 of his opponents by knockout, whilst Wilder has only needed the judges once in his career with all of his other 42 wins coming by knockout.
Crucially, when facing either of these former American heavyweight champions, at the peak of their powers opponents knew they were in for an early night.
31 of Tyson’s 44 stoppage wins came in the first three rounds, whilst Wilder boasts 34 knockout victories in the opening three rounds.
In fact, ‘The Bronze Bomber’ did not experience a fight past the third round until his 13th professional bout when he stopped Harold Sconiers in the fourth round.
Meanwhile, only one of Tyson’s first 16 victories went beyond the third round, with 12 of them not making it through the first round.
Even after taking a year out following a brutal 11th round defeat to Tyson Fury in their trilogy, Wilder iced Robert Helenius in the first round with a right hand he appeared to not even fully connect with.
While Wilder still has a few years remaining in the sport, ‘Iron Mike’ now 56-years-old has long-since retired, although he did display glimpses of his former self during an exhibition with Roy Jones Jr in November 2020.
🤔 Who would you rather fight for £1m over three rounds? 💰
— Pro Boxing Fans (@ProBoxingFans) January 25, 2023
So we asked the question to our Twitter followers, who would you rather fight for £1m over three rounds? A prime Mike Tyson or a prime Deontay Wilder?
73.7% said they would brave the frightening power of Wilder for life-altering money, with only 26.3% of the 137 voters opting for a meeting with Tyson.
Explaining why they’d choose to face the Alabama knockout artist over the former undisputed champion, one user wrote: “Deontay would head hunt you so you’d get knocked out quite quickly, Mike would break your ribs.”
A pretty fair justification if you ask us!
