Ronda Rousey Vs. Mike Tyson? The Former Boxing Champ Weighs In
Ronda Rousey haters, you’re probably getting sick of all the “could she beat this person, could she beat that person, how would she do against a man?” comparisons.
It seems like ever since the trash-talking Rousey, who has no problem backing it up in the Octagon, came on to the national scene, analysts have gone crazy with the questions.
For her part, Ronda doesn’t seem to be afraid of anyone regardless of gender. She has entertained the idea of fighting guys in her same weight class, and she’s beaten every viable contender in convincing fashion.
While some would say that she “put women’s MMA on the map,” she seems to have transcended that. She is women’s MMA, and until a female fighter can take her the distance or even beat her, there simply is no one else. So brace yourself for one more, “Could Ronda Rousey beat this guy?” questions.
Huffington Post recently sat down with Mike Tyson and asked him how he thought Ronda would fare against a guy like Floyd Mayweather in the Octagon.
(Manny Pacquiao had previously questioned Floyd’s ability to beat Ronda in an MMA contest.)
To this, “Iron Mike” didn’t hesitate.
“S**t, Ronda Rousey might kick my a**,” he said. “That 14 seconds the last fight [against Cat Zingano] — s**t, man, you got to take that seriously.”
While that’s not an outright admission that Mike Tyson thinks he would lose to Ronda Rousey, it’s a bit more of an intimidated response than Rousey has afforded to her opponents.
The longest anyone has been with her was Miesha Tate in their second bout.
(Their first was a first-round submission.)
Despite pushing Rousey beyond the first round, Tate never had a chance against Rousey in either contest.
Tyson complimented Ronda Rousey for marketing herself well and “not necessarily from a publicist’s perspective. She put in the work, too. She’s putting these people to bed, she’s tapping them out, she’s doing the 14-second thing.”
Tyson also seemed to feel like UFC was putting boxing to bed because the matches were “more exciting” and the “best fighters are fighting the best fighters.” In boxing, he said, too many of the top guys aren’t fighting the top guys.
That could change with the May 2 fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.
As for Ronda Rousey, what do you think, readers? Could she have handled a young Mike Tyson in the Octagon? (Or the older, more mature Tyson for that matter?) Sound off in the comments section.
