"Boxing After Dark"

HBO presents

May 20, 2000

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EZGuest667: Hi Michael, How long does it take you to prepare for a fight of this caliber?

Michael Bentt: Well, bearing in mind that I'm retired now since '94, about two weeks. But when I was competing it took me anywhere from five to six weeks to prepare for a championship type fight. For instance, Rahma and Corey Sanders probably spent about five weeks in the gym preparing.

EZGuest113: Who was the best fighter you ever saw?

Michael Bentt: I'd have to say, bearing in mind that this is my 25th year in boxing, and I've seen everyone from Mohummad Ali, to Sugar Ray Leonard, to Roberto Duran, and I think that Roy Jones Jr. is hands down the best fighter I've ever seen.

EZGuest101: Would the fighters of the past been able to compete against the fighters of today? Would a Muhammed Ali be competitive with a Lennox Lewis?

Michael Bentt: Roy Jones Jr. is by far the most gifted. You know what? In my estimation Muhummad Ali was the best heavyweight of all time. And in my estimation he would have played with Lennox Lewis. He would have had a field day on bigger men. Case in point - George Foreman, '74, he played with him. Cleveland "Big Cat" Williams in Houston, TX, he played with him, Ernie Terrell, he just dismantled. The only big man that would have given Ali a competitive fight would have been Riddick Bowe. Due to his natural athleticism.

EZGuest578: Do you still consider Michael Grant a force in the heavyweight division?

Michael Bentt: Based on his last fight with Lennox, you can't always say that. I think that the jury is still out on Mike. In my estimation, it was still out on Mike after he fought Gulotta, in November. But, can he eventually become a top ranked contender? Possibly, if he's brought along slowly. Be careful, because in boxing, it's not who you fight, it's who you don't fight. At certain junctures.

EZGuest564: Hardest puncher, Mike Tyson or Shavers?

Michael Bentt: Hands down, Ernie Shavers. Statistically, and realistically also. But you should also have in there a small man who was a big puncher in his own right, Bert Cooper, who pound for pound, punched just as hard as Tyson or Shavers.

EZGuest149: Despite his being champion I still feel Lewis has not been tested by tough competition, truthfully, I don't feel Tyson ever faced tough competition either. Who was the last heavyweight who really earned his place as World Champion?

Michael Bentt: That is a good question. You know, I've always maintained that the three fights that Tyson lost were the only three fights he ever had. Because when Mike was in his heyday, and was knocking people out in the first round, that wasn't a fight, he wasn't being challenged, and consequently, the one time that he was challenged, he was defeated soundly by Buster Douglas and then Evander Holyfield. And then Lennox Lewis, who is a fine champion in his own right, but has kind of been given the throne by beating an over the hill Evander Holyfield. The only person who has legitimately earned his championship stripes, as it were, has to be Riddick Bowe, who defeated, although a smaller Evander Holyfield, Holyfield was in his prime when he fought Bowe.

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