Topics: Boxing, Boxing News, Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, Jake Paul
Mike Tyson was one of the greatest boxers of all time during his peak but the former world heavyweight champion made an honest admission when asked how he would fare against a prime Muhammad Ali.
The 58-year-old Brooklyn-born brawler is set to take on YouTuber-turned boxer Jake Paul in a hotly anticipated Netflix event in November.
The bout between Tyson and the 27-year-old influencer had originally been planned to take place in July but the fight had to be rescheduled when Tyson fell ill and was unable to train.
With the showdown due to be staged at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the 100,000-capacity home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys, it is on course to be one of the biggest boxing matches in the sport's recent history.
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Tyson, who last fought in 2005, became the youngest heavyweight champion of all time when he won the WBC title at the age of 20 in 1986.
The fearsome power puncher reigned as the undisputed heavyweight king between 1987 and 1990 and he became the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles, as well as the only heavyweight to unify them in succession.
Across a 20-year professional career, Tyson won 50 of his 58 fights, with 44 victories by knockout.
Yet Tyson does not believe that he could have beaten Ali at the peak of his powers.
Speaking to 'This is 50' in 2012, Tyson insisted that no one could have beaten Ali in his prime.
"There's no man like him," he said. "Everything we have, he supersedes it.
"Nobody beats Ali. It's not about the muscle memory. It's not about concentration. It's just about him doing it.
"I can't beat that man. Hell no, f*** this [laughs]."
Regarded as arguably the greatest boxer of all time and one of the most influential athletes in sporting history, Ali won 56 of his 61 professional bouts, with 37 of those victories coming via stoppage.
An Olympic gold medalist, Ali was the undisputed world champion between 1974 and '78 and was named the Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated magazine.
