To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Mike Tyson Reveals The Fighter Who Could Handle His Ridiculous Power

Mike Tyson Reveals The Fighter Who Could Handle His Ridiculous Power

Tyson was an absolute animal in the squared circle...

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Mike Tyson will forever be remembered as one of the hardest hitters in the history of boxing, but the man himself revealed that one man in particular knew how to handle his innate power.

'Iron' Mike fought the likes of Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield and Frank Bruno in a career that spanned 58 heavyweight bouts but Tyson believes Jose Ribalta was the man who dealt with him most impressively.

A 20-year old Tyson faced Ribalta, who lost 17 of his fights, back in 1986 prior to becoming world heavyweight champion.

Image: PA
Image: PA

He knocked him to the canvas in rounds two and eight during the bout at Trump Plaza hotel in Atlantic city but Tyson left it late to secure the TKO victory in round ten.

Ribalta managed to get back up from the knockdown but another onslaught from Tyson brought the stoppage from the referee.

Recalling the difficulty he had in the fight during an interview with The Ring in 2014, Tyson said: "I hit Jose Ribalta with everything, and he took everything and kept coming back for more.

"Jose Ribalta stood toe to toe with me. He was very strong in the clinches."

Tyson's dream fantasy fight is actually against the undefeated Floyd Mayweather, who won world titles in five different weight classes and is widely deemed to be one of the best to lace up a pair of gloves.

Image: PA
Image: PA

During an interview with Steve Farhood on ShoBox, Tyson was asked which fighter he would have wanted to face from any era in boxing.

Despite the obvious difference in size and weight, Tyson went for 'Money'.

When asked if he wanted to knock out Mayweather, Tyson responded: "Well, I would love to have fought him. I wish he was my weight."

In terms of how he would approach such a fight, Tyson said in 2013 that he it would be "almost impossible to fight him clean" and he would have to fight him "dirty."

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, he revealed: "I would be mean, I would be dirty. Because you'd have to do everything to fight him because he's just so good. You can't... it's almost impossible to fight him clean.

"It's almost impossible to fight him clean. You can't fight him clean. You can't fight this guy clean."

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Mike Tyson, Boxing News, Boxing

Josh is a writer who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

X

@https://twitter.com/JoshLawless_