Mike Tyson stands alone in the sport for many reasons, but each era has one or two fighters that are compared to him.

With ferocious power and a demeanour so intimidating it could beat opponents before they made the walk to the ring, the former undisputed heavyweight champion is as recognisable a figure boxing has produced.

His relentless attacks springing out of the peek-a-boo style caused many a problem for heavyweights in the eighties and nineties, and some have tried to replicate it from there onwards. So who does he feel is closest in today’s era?

In an interview with The Ring Magazine, Tyson dismissed comparisons to Gervonta Davis in favour of one of the only men to take him the distance, Isaac Cruz.

“I love a lot of today’s fighters, guys like Tank Davis. But I don’t know if anyone is close to me today. If I had to say someone is closest to me, I would say Isaac Cruz. He’s short and stubby for his weight class, like I was, and he comes at you. People might think I would say Tank, but Tank reminds me a whole lot of Aaron ‘The Hawk’ Pryor. I mean that as a big compliment.

You would think Tank is a brawler, but he really is a boxer-puncher. He moves well. He moves his head well. He can beat you all kinds of ways. He can knock you out. Or he can box you. Cruz reminds me the most of who I was. He comes at you with bad intentions. And he keeps coming at you. He gave Tank his toughest fight.”

‘Pitbull’ Cruz has welcomed the comparison, even sharing social media posts with the tagline ‘The Mexican Mike Tyson.’

He bounced back from the Davis fight – the only defeat on his record – with wins over Yuriorkis Gamboa, Eduardo Ramirez and Giovanni Cabrera at lightweight before moving up to 140 and knocking out Rolando ‘Rolly’ Romero to snatch his WBA World Title.

Cruz and his fan-friendly, relentless style can be seen in action again on August 3 when he makes the first defence of that belt against Jose Valenzuela.

Meanwhile, Tyson returns to the ring in November for a controversial bout with Jake Paul.