Mike Tyson was ‘scared s*******’ of facing one heavyweight legend during the peak years of his career – with former insider claiming he refused to fight the ‘f***** animal’

Tyson was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world in the late 1980s

He was the self-professed ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’ during his peak years

One former associate has claimed Tyson was ‘scared’ to fight one of the greats

A former associate of Mike Tyson has claimed that the two-time heavyweight world champion was afraid of one particular fighter during his time in the ring.

Tyson was once the self-professed ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’ due to his brutal knockout power and the terrifying rage he possessed in the ring.

His explosiveness and vicious punches led to a meteoric rise in the sport as just a youngster in the 1980s.

All of Tyson’s first 19 professional fights were won by way of knockout, with 12 of them coming in just the first round of the bout.

He became the youngest boxer ever to become heavyweight champion after beating Trevor Berbick to win the WBC belt at just 20 years of age.

Tyson seemed scared of nobody during his peak years. However, Bobby Goodman – Iron Mike’s promoter Don King’s matchmaker – has stated that the now 58-year-old did not want to face the legendary George Foreman.

Mike Tyson (left, pictured in 1990) is claimed to have been afraid of facing George Foreman (right)

Tyson was at the peak of his powers during the late 1980s and was the biggest name in boxing

He was known for his knockout power and reigned as undisputed heavyweight champion between 1987 and 1990

‘Georgie, you’ll never believe this but, f***** Tyson is scared s******* of Foreman and wants no part of him,’ Goodman is quoted as saying in a 2005 article by Boxing Scene.

‘I was there when Don was trying to make the fight. He was telling Tyson that Foreman represented huge money, plus he was old and slow and would be no problem.

‘Tyson got up and screamed at King saying, ‘I’m not fighting that f***** animal, if you love the m******** so much, you fight him!”

Foreman – a former heavyweight champion himself – initially left boxing eight years before Tyson burst onto the scene, following a bout of illness after a defeat to Jimmy Young.

He went on to find faith after the ‘near-death experience’ he claimed to have endured after the fight and put his focus on religion for the many years that followed.

However, Foreman had never formally retired from the sport and made a surprising return at 38 years old in 1987 while Tyson was in the midst of his reign as undisputed heavyweight champion.

Initially, the veteran had no intention of fighting Tyson, who was boxing’s biggest and best fighter at the time. Nevertheless, serious negotiations regarding about started in 1990.

However, the fight never came to be after Tyson was convicted of rape in 1992 and sentenced to six years in prison.

Foreman was once a heavyweight champion and famous for facing Muhammad Ali in 1974

After a 10-year hiatus, Foreman returned to the ring in 1987 and was reportedly in talks to fight Tyson three years later but the fight never materialised

Tyson retired in 2005 only to return last year to face YouTube personality Jake Paul

By the time he was released in 1995, Foreman had retired – for good this time – and Tyson would never get to have Big George on his CV.

Despite Goodman’s claims from 20 years ago, Tyson has previously revealed that not facing Foreman was a big regret of his career.

‘I would have liked to fight George Foreman,’ Tyson told The Ring last year. ‘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.’