Mike Tyson revealed the list of top five fighters in boxing, and there are a couple of surprises that don’t fit in with what fans view as the sport’s elite.
One of the names on the former heavyweight champion Tyson’s list is former unified welterweight champion Errol Spence, who hasn’t 16 months since losing to Terence Crawford by a ninth-round knockout.
Spence is 34 and has had multiple extended periods of inactivity since 2019 that have kept him out of the ring for over a year. Tyson believes Spence can become world champion again.
Mike Tyson’s Top Five Fighters
- David Benavidez
- Gervonta Davis
- Shakur Stevenson
- Terence Crawford
- Errol Spence
“Benavidez, Tank, Shakur when he’s got the type of guy that Tank was fighting. Of course, Bud Crawford, and listen, I like Spence, too,” said Mike Tyson to the Pound For Pound channel when asked for his top five action fighters in boxing.
“I think Spence can come back and still get his title back. I think Spence is an underrated fighter.”
Besides Spence being an odd bird on Tyson’s list, Shakur Stevenson’s choice of top fighter is also a strange one. Shakur is not popular and has been booed out of his last two fights by fans displeased with his hit-and-not-get-hit fighting style. His close call against Edwin De Los Santos a year ago on November 16th indicates that he’s not going to be the same fighter at lightweight that he was at 130 and 126.
Boxing fans on social media believe Mike Tyson’s top five list could be a sign that he doesn’t follow the sport closely enough to realize who the good fighters are.
The 37-year-old Crawford is a good fighter, but he’s pretty much done, and just waiting to see if Canelo Alvarez will give him a title shot at 168 before retiring. Crawford hasn’t fighting enough since 2020, competing only once a year, and he didn’t look good in his last fight at 154.
Crawford’s fight against Israil Madrimov on August 3rd showed that he’s not going to beat the better fighters in the division: Bakhram Murtazaliev, Sebastian Fundora, Vergil Ortiz Jr., or Serhii Bohachuk. Given his inactivity and his last performance, you can’t consider Crawford a top-five-level fighter.
David Benavidez looked poor in his debut at 175 against Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15th, showing that he’s not the same guy now that he’s no longer fighting smaller fighters at 168. Benavidez had a reputation for being a weight bully. His fight against Gvozdyk at light heavyweight confined that view in fans’ minds.
