Mike Tyson believes a boxing legend couldn’t be stopped during his early years.
The same has been said about Tyson himself on numerous occasions, having burst onto the scene in the 1980s with 19 consecutive knockout victories, 12 of them coming in the first round, becoming the youngest heavyweight champion of the world in history.
“Iron Mike” knocked out fighters such as Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick in his prime, who were the only two men to face both Tyson and Muhammad Ali, with a fantastic fight between these legends often talked about by fans.
Tyson once questioned in a ThisIs50 video about the prospect of a showdown with Ali, but insisted he would have failed, after claiming no one could beat Ali in his prime.
“There is no man like him, there simply isn’t. Everything we have, he replaces us. He was an animal, he looked more like a model than a boxer.
“He’s like a Tyrannosaurus Rex with a pretty face, he’s just mean and nasty, he’ll take you into the deep waters and drown you. He’s very special. The best. Nobody beats Ali. I can’t beat that man, hell no. No way.”
Ali was a three-time world heavyweight champion, dominating the division in the 1960s and 1970s and defeating other greats such as George Foreman and Joe Frazier along the way.
With Tyson’s views on a proposed fantasy match now known, Ali also once revealed how he thought he would have held up to ‘Iron Mike’ in his prime.
