It’s clear that current heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has a huge amount of respect for former undisputed champion Mike Tyson.
‘The Gypsy King’ responded to a Twitter post asking who would win between himself and Tyson, who Fury is named after, and he kept it classy.
“Like @MikeTyson already said it doesn’t matter who u think wins as I’m named after him so he already has won,” Fury tweeted.
And this is not the first time Fury has spoken in admiration of Tyson, as he previously told the Ring Magazine: “A lot of people underestimate Mike Tyson’s speed as well.
“Yes, it was the speed that was coming. It wasn’t like the one punch, ‘Ahh, what single slow punch.’
“It was fast and it was coming left up, right up, down, side to side. It was coming from all angles and he was very ferocious and speedy and he could knock a man out with either hand, as we have seen.
“And the fear factor as well, a lot of people going in [to the boxing ring] were already beaten from Mike Tyson.”
And Tyson has returned the compliment in the past, telling talkSPORT: “Tyson Fury proved over and over again that he’s the best.
“Tyson Fury is the champ, the reigning champ and is gonna be the champ for a long time, if he chooses to be, unless we get some new guy up.”
And prior to Fury’s second fight with Deontay Wilder, which he won by knockout, Tyson even admitted that he has some bias towards ‘The Gypsy King’ due to being his namesake.
“I always root for him because he was named after me,” Tyson said on the Boxing Legend’s podcast.
“That’s the natural thing to do, right? I’m biased towards him.”
But, Tyson will have to put that bias aside on October 28, as he will be in the opposite corner from Fury, having agreed to train former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou for their clash.
And while Fury is a heavy favourite, Tyson believes Ngannou will do better than people might expect, as he told ESPN: “He’s had many professional fights, he’s just never experienced a professional boxing match.
“Working with him yesterday, he has the aptitude and I see a good future in his life.
“It’s not going to be as one-sided as people think it is.”
Tyson continued: “We are going to work him and exert everything he has for this particular match, because he is going to have to do that.
“And I definitely believe that it’s going to be a tougher fight than everyone thinks.”
