Jump directly to the content
FRANK TALK

Mike Tyson NOT in top ten heavyweights ever and would have lost to Ali, Foreman and Frazier, says Frank Warren

BOXING promoter Frank Warren has revealed he does not rank Mike Tyson in his top 10 heavyweights of all time.

Iron Mike, 54, is making a sensational return to the sport he ruled with fear in the late 1980s and 90s when he fights Roy Jones Jr in an exhibition fight on November 28.

Frank Warren does not have Mike Tyson in his top 10 greatest heavyweights
3
Frank Warren does not have Mike Tyson in his top 10 greatest heavyweights
Tyson is looking in sensational shape as he returns to the boxing ring at the age of 54
3
Tyson is looking in sensational shape as he returns to the boxing ring at the age of 54Credit: Instagram @miketyson

Tyson won 50 of his 56 fights, bagging 44 KOs along the way.

But for Hall of Fame promoter Warren, the Baddest Man On The Planet's indiscretions OUTSIDE the ring means he doesnt make his top 10.

Speaking to , Warren, 68, said: “Mike Tyson, when he was young and first got into boxing, he was exciting.

“A bit like Daniel Dubois in some ways, he sort of captured the public’s imagination in devastating style.

“He won a world title and everybody was talking about him. For me, he was one of the most exciting young heavyweights.

“However, he doesn’t get in my top ten because he just did not last the course.

“He was sodding around, drugging it and boozing, went to prison. He just didn’t do it for me.”

Tyson has admitted to taking cocaine and cannabis throughout his career, and in 1992 was found guilty of rape and sentenced to six years in prison, serving three.

Tyson ruled the heavyweight division with fear for years
3
Tyson ruled the heavyweight division with fear for yearsCredit: Reuters

The Brooklyn brawler became the youngest ever heavyweight champ when he KO'd Trevor Berbick in 1986.

But Warren believes there would be a clutch of fighters who would have been able to deal with Tyson's raw aggression.

He added: "I don’t think he would’ve beaten Sonny Liston, I don’t think he’d have beaten [prime] Larry Holmes, I don’t think he’d have beaten [Muhammad] Ali.

"I don’t think he’d have beaten Joe Frazier and I certainly don’t think he’d have beaten George Foreman."

Warren has had somewhat of a chequered relationship with Tyson over the years.

The Islington-born promoter revealed how a £2million jewellery bill led to Mike Tyson PUNCHING him in 2000.

The promoter encountered 'The Baddest Man On The Planet' at the height of his infamy, with an unpaid jewellery bill coming back to haunt the fighter.

And Warren has opened up on the 'pandemonium' that the 'petulant' Tyson caused when flooring him inside a Park Lane hotel over the incident.

Mike Tyson relaxes with beloved pigeons as boxing legend feeds bird in mansion back garden ahead of Roy Jones Jr fight
Topics