Mike Tyson has opened up on the one fight that got away.
Tyson, made history in 1986 when he defeated Trevor Berbick at the age of 20 years and 4 months to become the youngest heavyweight champion of the sport.
Tyson won the World Boxing Council (WBC) title by knocking out Berbick in the second round of their clash in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In 1987 ‘Iron Mike’ became the undisputed heavyweight champion defeating James Smith for the World Boxing Association (WBA) belt and Tony Tucker for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) title also becoming the first heavyweight boxer to hold all three major belts at the same time.
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On the flip side of that George Foreman became the oldest heavyweight boxing champion in history when he defeated Michael Moorer in 1994 at the age of 45.
Tyson admits he would have liked to face-off against Foreman in a battle between two of boxing’s biggest ever punchers.
He said: “I would have liked to fight George Foreman. There have been many fans who wondered who was the bigger puncher. I would have liked to put an end to the discussion – one way or the other.”
However, George Foreman said that Mike Tyson “ducked” him after receiving advice from Cus D’Amato, his iconic boxing trainer earlier in his career.
“There were a couple of times, serious negotiations were going on with the Mike Tyson fight. Mike Tyson just didn’t want to fight me. Not to say he couldn’t have beaten me. I mean, this guy could punch. The bigger they are the harder they’d fall as far as Mike Tyson was concerned,” Foreman told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.
“I guess that I have a feeling, his first original trainer and manager, Cus D’Amato, must have told him about George Foreman’s punching power as though I would never comeback. So sometimes when you come back and a guy remembers those stories, he says to himself, ‘Look, leave that guy alone’. But I don’t think I would have been that much problems to him. I had a good left jab and I’d always do better when guys come to me, but Tyson was pretty smart with his footwork and hand speed. That would have been a tough fight for me. ”
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