Former two-time world heavyweight champion Tim Witherspoon believes that Mike Tyson, who came out of retirement two weeks ago, stands a chance against some of boxing’s biggest stars.

Tyson returned to the ring for the first time in 15 years, and was forced to settle for a draw in his exhibition bout with Roy Jones Jr. Despite the result, Tyson’s grand display caught the eye of the millions of viewers who purchased the fight, which prompted further discussion as to who could be next for Iron Mike.

As well as the fans, some of the legends of the game were also full of praise for Tyson. Tim Witherspoon was one of them, and the 62-year-old American icon believes Tyson can compete against the current superstars of boxing after a few more exhibition clashes.

Witherspoon told Sun Sport: “I think if he were to come back and fight Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder, I think he would need a couple of warm up fights.

“He couldn’t do it in one fight. He will need a couple of fights and then take the fight. If he did that, I think he would do really well against Fury or Wilder.

“To me he was sharp and strong, but needs to engage in a couple more fights before fighting these guys.”

He also spoke highly about Tyson’s punch and constant hunger to KO anyone he goes up against.

“Mike Tyson punches hard and has the heart to get in there and hurt one of these and knock them out. All Mike has to do is get used to the sparring and boxing to get back to his old self.

I do believe that if he hit one of these guys, Wilder, Joshua or Fury, he’d knock them out in a real boxing fight.

“I’m not saying they can’t take a punch, but if Mike hits them they are definitely going down. They lack defence.

“Wilder has five percent defence out of 100 percent. Joshua 15 percent. Fury 25 percent because he moves a lot and does a lot of fakes.”

Witherspoon never fought Tyson during his career, but the two recently made headlines together after it was revealed Iron Mike gave Witherspoon and his daughter £2,000 from a bag of cash simply as an act of generosity.

With the two veterans once again making headlines, many boxing fans still wonder who would win in a fight between these two American heavyweights in their prime.