Mike Tyson Names Muhammad Ali the Greatest: 'He Knew How to Handle Monsters'

Mike Tyson has handed out his pick for boxing's greatest, and it isn't him. Speaking to Piers Morgan Uncensored, the man who became the youngest heavyweight world champion in history — 20 years old when he flattened Trevor Berbick in two rounds to grab the WBC belt in 1986 — gave the crown to Muhammad Ali.

Tyson didn't exactly undersell himself, mind. He described himself as the most glorious fighter who ever lived, which is about as Tyson a line as you'll get. But when it came to naming the actual best, he deferred to his idol without hesitation.

The real tell was his answer to the hypothetical everyone wants: who wins if they fight? Tyson said Ali would have beaten him, and the reasoning was pure respect. Ali, he said, knew how to handle monsters — an animal tamer. He figured it would've been a good scrap, but he gave Ali the nod anyway.

The Case for Ali

The evidence backs Tyson up more than you'd think. Ali built his legend by solving the heaviest hitters of his era. He beat Sonny Liston, outlasted George Foreman in Zaire, and survived Earnie Shavers — arguably the biggest single-punch threat the division has ever seen. Handling monsters was literally the job description.

Tyson's own arc explains why he's drawn to that quality. His aura of invincibility ran until 1990, when James 'Buster' Douglas authored one of the sport's great upsets in Tokyo. Tyson clawed his way back, reclaiming a belt in 1996 by stopping Frank Bruno, but the Douglas night proved even the scariest man alive could be undone by someone who stayed composed.

So this is less a surprise than a confirmation. The puncher who terrified a generation looking up at the boxer who never flinched. Tyson's happy to call himself glorious. He just won't call himself the best — and he's got a specific, hard-won reason for it.