The first man to take Mike Tyson the distance once named the fighter that punched even harder than the legendary heavyweight.
‘Iron Mike’ is considered to be one of the most feared heavyweights to have ever lived, producing an outstanding win-to-knockout ratio during the earlier stages of his professional career which began back in 1985.
Tyson wrote his name into boxing history when he became the youngest world heavyweight champion of all time in 1986, stopping countryman Trevor Berbick in the second round of their Las Vegas showdown to capture the WBC world title.
He later became the undisputed heavyweight champion, adding the WBA and IBF titles to his collection with routine wins over James Smith and Tony Tucker.
Tyson’s 19-fight knockout streak came to an end when he clashed with James Tillis, who became the first fighter to take the young heavyweight star the scheduled distance in May of 1986.
Speaking in a resurfaced interview, Tillis played down the thunderous punching power of Tyson, as he claims ‘Iron Mike’ punched ‘like a sissy’ in comparison to the late-great Earnie Shavers.
“Shavers, he hit so hard he could turn horse piss into gasoline! He hit so hard he could bring back tomorrow. Tyson hit like a sissy in comparison. I beat Shavers, and I know I beat Tyson. I wanted a rematch with Tyson real bad, but Shavers, no way! When he hit me and knocked me down, I saw pink mice and rats smoking cigarettes! That fight [with Shavers] was the toughest 30 minutes of my life.”
Shavers is widely regarded as being one of the best heavyweights to have never won a version of the world heavyweight championship.
The Alabama-native racked up an impressive 70 knockout victories during his 26-year professional career but fell short in his attempts at dethroning Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes of their heavyweight titles in 1977 and 1979 respectively.
