TYSON FURY and Anthony Joshua would not fare well during Mike Tyson’s era heavyweight fighters.
The trio is currently at the top in the heavyweight tree, alongside Oleksandr Usyk (unified champion).
Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua threw down before a full house at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
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Although they have only four losses between them, former world champion Tim Witherspoon believes they "would not last" in the Iron Mike era.
SunSport quoted him as saying: "But a lot boxers today, the fact is they wouldn't even survive if they were fighting during our era."
"Look at Deontay Wilder's fights - all the 30-40 of them wouldn’t have been allowed by the Commission to take on me back then.
"He has a great right hand, but the boxers he fought wouldn't let me fight them or Mike Tyson or Holyfield.
"Same with Tyson Fury. There aren't enough heavyweights of this level today.
"I was so happy that the Commission informed me that I couldn't fight the four men they allowed Mike Tyson to fight!"
"It kind of motivated me when I discovered that. That's something I am proud of.
"I said, OK. There was a huge gap between Fury and the guy Fury fought, they wouldn't survive with no one of us not in the top 15, it's fascinating.
Witherspoon believes that the current crop, except Usyk, of top heavyweights has had much easier paths to title contention than he.
He stated: "Well, we had a lot better fights when our time was coming up. It's just that we got the business side of our era messed up. A couple of promoters weren’t treating us."
They treat the boxers as well today as they treat their predecessors.
"I feel like the fans aren’t getting the fights we used to back then. They don't have the same skill, but they are getting more money.
"They are getting more money and the praises they should've gotten. They don't have to be taken advantage of, but I would've earned more money if I had fought Larry Holmes, the greatest heavyweight ever.
"I returned home with 150,000 dollars. I returned home having spent more money on Larry Holmes than I did fighting Frank Bruno.
"So, I believe that the boxers of this era are getting paid really well but the fans aren’t getting the great fights they had back in our day.
"It is clear that we are the ones who set the pace.
"We had heavyweights and middleweights as well as lightweights. Our era was full of boxers that attracted a lot more fans to the stadiums. It's just a fact that some of them got ripped off, but there was plenty of exposure, but not like today.
"Today it is big money, I wish I could be fighting Deontay wilder and Tyson Fury who have all these millions."
WBC heavyweight champion Fury will face former sparring partner Dillian Whyte next month.
Joshua and Uysk were also set to rematch in this year's event, but their second match is still uncertain as Joshua is the Ukrainian champion who is fighting a Russian invasion.
After his defeat to Fury last October, Wilder has not shown any signs of wanting to compete.
