Recently, David Haye stated that ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson would not be in his list of top five heavyweight boxers of all time, and after receiving some criticism, he has now published his top 10 heavyweights, which sees Tyson sit sixth.
One thing to note about this list is that it has strict criteria.
Those included must be over 45 and retired from boxing. This means that the list might need to change with rumours flying around that we may finally see Tyson and Evander Holyfield complete their trilogy...
This top 10 list is stacked with boxing legends, who would rightly place in anyone’s list, but a lot of fans are not impressed with where they sit on Haye's.
Referring back to Haye stating Tyson wouldn’t make his top five, he went and placed ‘Iron’ Mike sixth, meaning he just misses out, perhaps as a sly dig to those who challenged the former boxer’s comments.
One thing you cannot argue with Haye’s list, however, is him placing Muhammad Ali as his top heavyweight boxer (over 45) of all time. Ali is one of boxing’s G.O.A.T and rightly sits at number one.
Haye’s second top heavyweight boxer of all time is Lennox Lewis. Tyson himself avoided fighting Lewis in 1996, which resulted in him being stripped of his WBC title.
The pair did finally face off, however, in 2002, and as always with Tyson, there was trouble.
Chaos ensued at a press conference for the fight and Tyson ended up having to pay Lewis $335,000 after admitting to biting him.
It is worth noting that Haye places Holyfield third, which is three places above Tyson, and after the events that occurred in 1996 and 1997, it's probably deserved.
Holyfield made history in 1996 by getting an 11th-round TKO victory over Tyson, and a year later, the two were to do battle again.
It was that fight where Tyson infamously bit a small section of Holyfield’s ear off, getting himself disqualified in the process with many arguing that he purposely got himself disqualified as it looked like he was on the way to another knockout loss.
Now with wild rumours being spread that the two could fight again, even though both men are in their 50s, it would be very interesting to see the two go at it again.
George Foreman and Larry Holmes are the other two that sit above Tyson in Haye's opinion, and the four below 'The Baddest Man on the Planet' are Joe Frazier, Sonny Liston, Ken Norton and Riddick Bowe.