Deontay Wilder Leaves Mike Tyson Off His Mount Rushmore Of Heavyweight Greats

Former WBC champ Deontay Wilder snubbed boxing legend Mike Tyson when naming his Mount Rushmore of heavyweight fighters.

The 34-year-old American star has previously bragged that he could have knocked out 'Iron' Mike in his prime.

But Wilder, who lost the WBC championship to rival Tyson Fury, had no place for the 'Baddest Man on the Planet' on his Mount Rushmore.

Speaking to PBC on FOX, the 'Bronze Bomber' revealed that his first pick would be none other than the legendary Muhammad Ali.

"Number one for me is my idol, and that's Muhammad Ali," he said.

"For him, it's not so much what he did inside of the ring, but what he did on the outside of the ring.

"He was a brave man, he spoke his peace, he came with positive energy and he loved people.

"You know, he spoke what was right in his era and that was a hard time coming up in that era in time, so I always salute Muhammad Ali."

Wilder continued to build his heavyweight Mount Rushmore with the addition of boxing legend Joe Louis.

The KO artist explained: "Secondly, Joe Louis. You know, Joe Louis the 'Brown Bomber,' which I'm the 'Bronze Bomber.' And as you can see, I got my name from Joe Louis.

"He was an Alabama boy, we were both powerful hitters and he was the 'Brown Bomber' and I'm Deontay 'the Bronze Bomber' Wilder."

Joining Louis and Ali on Wilder's Mount Rushmore was Evander Holyfield, who the 'Bronze Bomber' praised for his work effort.

Wilder continued: "My third one [would be] Evander Holyfield. Evander Holyfield, another Alabama boy, you know, another hard hitter, his work effort was out of this world when he was coming up.

"He was strong, he was dedicated to his craft and he believed in himself."

The final name on Wilder's list is another hard hitter in the form of boxing legend Earnie Shavers.

The 'Bronze Bomber' said: "The fourth one has to go to Earnie Shavers. As you can see, all these guys were 'Bama boys except Muhammad Ali.

"Earnie Shavers [is] another Alabama boy. Also considered one of the hardest punchers in the history of boxing."

Boxing legend Tyson, 54, has since reacted to Wilder's claim that he could KO a younger version of himself with a classy response.

Featured Image Credit: PBC on FOX/BT Sport

Topics: Mike Tyson, Bronze Bomber, Boxing News, Boxing, Joe Louis, muhammad ali, Deontay Wilder

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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