Mike Tyson Explains Why 'No One Could Be Mike Tyson'

Mike Tyson is certain that there’s no one in this world who could emulate everything about him.

In the pros, Tyson burst onto the boxing scene as a ferocious heavyweight rising star. His incredible power, combined with tremendous speed only few heavyweights had, made him an undisputed champion.

“Iron Mike” went undefeated for almost five years, and to this day, he is still the youngest heavyweight world champion.

It is quite hard to repeat or even exceed what Tyson has accomplished in the sport. But while nothing is impossible in boxing, he begged to disagree and insists that no one can become exactly like him.

According to Tyson, everyone is born different and anybody could be uniquely good at anything they wished to do.

“No one could be Mike Tyson,” the 54-year-old recently said on VladTV. “ Everybody’s gonna be who they are gonna be. Whatever they are gonna do.”

When asked about his thoughts on how he was genetically different compared to other heavyweights, Tyson pointed out that even if someone isn’t born strong, he can still become good in boxing.

“Everybody is different,” he explained. “You look at this, Rocky Marciano and Larry Holmes, they probably are the only two heavyweights that probably started in their 20s or late like 19-20 and they are two of the greatest heavyweights, ever lived. They started late.”

With a neck almost 20 inches in measurement, Tyson indeed looked genetically different from his opponents. This was the same thing Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and Tristar Gym head coach Firas Zahabi explained when trying to emphasize that UFC star Conor McGregor’s power had something to do with genetics.

“He’s got that left hand, it’s the touch of death,” Zahabi said of McGregor earlier this year. “That touch of death comes at a cost. Where does power come from? Number one on the list is where your muscle is attached to the bone. It’s genetic. So, Mike Tyson, he has a powerful left hook not because his coach taught him how to hit a left hook. He could have hit a left hook like that if he had a mediocre trainer.”

While it could be true that Tyson is genetically different and no one can ever come close to what he has become, one of his long-time coaches Billy White thinks he has the same mentality as the late Kobe Bryant.

“Kobe’s Mentality (is like) Cus’ strategy–day by day in every way, get better and better, different wording, same powerful message,” White said ahead of Tyson vs. Jones exhibition match. “Bottom line is you take that Mamba Mentality.”

“What does a mamba do?” he continued. “He simply has head movements to avoid strikes which is exactly what Mike does. And then he strikes with speed, power and precision, and if you do that, and use that Kobe mentality, in honor of Kobe, God bless Kobe, here we are at Staples Centre. It’s a perfect fit.”