Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis both named same boxing legend as their toughest ever opponent

Heavyweight boxing legends Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson were both in agreement when it came to naming the toughest opponent of their careers.

Iron Mike has 50 wins from 59 professional boxing bouts in a career spanning 40 years, of which 44 were from knockouts.

He has nine defeats to his name, the most recent of which came last year when he lost to YouTuber Jake Paul at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Tyson became the first heavyweight to hold simultaneously the WBA, WBC and IBC titles and also to unify them in succession.

During his career, Tyson fought Lewis in 2002 when the latter held the WBC, IBF, IBO and Lineal titles.

Lewis won that encounter through knocking out Tyson in the eighth round as the former held onto his titles.

Lewis's career stands at 41 wins from 44 fights, with his final bout being in 2003 when he beat Vitali Klitschko and the following year, despite negotiations for a rematch, he retired from boxing and vacated his titles.

Both men are among the greatest heavyweights of all-time - and the duo named the same boxer as their toughest opponent after they faced another fellow legendary figure in the ring.

That man was Evander Holyfield, whom Lewis faced twice in 1999, while Tyson also clashed with Holyfield on two occasions.

Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield. (Image: Getty)

The second meeting between Tyson and Holyfield in June 1997 is particularly infamous due to the former biting part of the latter's right ear off during the bout.

Tyson lost both fights and was disqualified in the second bout because of the biting.

Iron Mike named Holyfield as his toughest opponent during an interview with The Ring Magazine where he explained why he was the best he faced.

Tyson said: "Great champion: chin, heart, determination, work ethic, demeanour."

And in an Instagram post, Lewis outlined why he regards Holyfield as his toughest opponent of all time.

He posted: "People seem to be genuinely surprised when I tell them [Holyfield] was my toughest opponent, not to be confused with my toughest fight, which was [Ray] Mercer, but when you really dive into why that is, it actually makes a lot of sense.

"Holyfield, like me, has an extensive amateur pedigree that has served him well throughout his professional career.

"He started boxing at eight years old and was an Olympic bronze medalist in 1984. Before he moved up to the heavyweight division, he's a man that cleared out the cruiserweight division to become the undisputed champion, and arguably the best ever, in that weight class.

"That's a lot of experience and it's safe to say that by the time we met for the undisputed heavyweight championship in 1999, he had seen it all.

"When you combine Evander's amateur and professional experience, you would be hard pressed not to see the kind of success he's had in the ring.

"I may tease him a bit on our two fights, he knows I won both fights even though he won't admit it, but in all seriousness, he's the only man that has gone 24 rounds with me."