Legendary boxer Roy Jones Jr is confident he and Mike Tyson would have beaten current heavyweights Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in their prime.

Jones, 51, and Tyson, 54, have announced an exhibition bout against one another to take place in September.

Jones campaigned primarily at middleweight and light-heavyweight but leapt up to heavyweight 17 years ago and defeated John Ruiz to become world heavyweight champion.

Tyson remained undefeated in his first 37 fights as a professional and is considered one of the best heavyweights of all-time.

And when asked how he and Tyson would have faired against the current crop in the division, most notably Joshua and Fury, Jones was not shy to give his point of view.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: "Not right now. It would be hard for us to last 12 rounds with any of those guys. They are skilled fighters, not bad boxers. They are not as skilled as we were but they are in their primes, and we are not.

"In our primes? We would probably have beaten them. You can never say, but I think we would probably have beaten them.

"Our skill level was deeper, at that time, than it is now.

"In our prime we would have come out on top against most of those guys. But you never know because it never happened so you can't discredit those guys. 

"They are good fighters, well-respected fighters, and my hat is off to them because they are at the top."

Joshua and Fury recently reached a ‘financial agreement’ for a two-fight deal, the first of which would take place next year.

Meanwhile, it was revealed earlier this week that the Tyson-Jones exhibition clash will set US fight fans back $49.99 as it will be on pay-per-view.