WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has caused controversy in recent times following comments that he would have beaten a prime Mike Tyson.

The comments came in for a lot of flack not just from the boxing world, but from well-known fighters.

Lennox Lewis and Frank Bruno from the old heavyweight guard lead the charge in their dismissal of the notion that Wilder would have beaten a prime Mike Tyson.

Of course these debates are always speculative at best as they can’t go anywhere, in reality.

But fans love them and on they tend to go.

Now that the dust has settled a bit, Wilder has addressed the backlash and Lennox Lewis’ comments with ES News YouTube:

Of course Wilder is going to believe in himself, that’s a granted.

But should he really be comparing himself to legends of the past is perhaps the correct question?

Take Floyd Mayweather for example. Through his career for the most part he did not really mention legendary fighters of the past.

It wasn’t until near the very end of his career when he did, when he felt he had developed the sufficient resume.

Wilder is still very much in the middle of his career however and you’d have to see him unify the belts first, at least, before he should be talking about greats of the past.