Mike Tyson has been pulled back into professional boxing after nearly two decades following his last professional fight in 2005. He will be locking horns with Jake Paul on November 15, 2024, at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The eight-two-minute round contest between the two fighters will be live-streamed on Netflix. With fight night inching closer, Mike Tyson is doing a lot of press for the fight.

Recently, Mike Tyson sat down with Cam’ron and Mase during an interview on their Come And Talk 2 Me podcast to discuss his upcoming opponent, and also delve into the fascinating life that Iron Mike has lived so far. Amidst the conversation, Tyson was asked by Cam’ron, “What’s one of the toughest fights you had?” Interestingly, Mike Tyson’s toughest opponent wasn’t any of the boxers he had lost against, like Evander Holyfield, Buster Douglas, or Lennox Lewis. “Razor Ruddock, this guy from Jamaica. He’s pretty tough,” Tyson replied after thinking for a moment.

Mike Tyson faced Donovan ‘Razor’ Ruddock for the first time on March 18, 1991, in a title eliminator fight to determine the mandatory challenger for Evander Holyfield’s titles, who was the unified heavyweight champion back then. Tyson won the bout by seventh-round TKO but controversy surrounding the referee’s decision to stop the fight meant that the fighters again met for the rematch on June 28, 1991. This time too, Tyson emerged victorious, but the famed knockout artist was taken to the full distance of the fight, ultimately winning via unanimous decision.

However, Tyson’s answer prompted the interviewer to ask a follow-up question—”That’s one of the toughest fights that you had and you still won, but you lost some fights. You don’t think the fights that you lost were tougher than the ones that you actually won against?”

In response, ‘Iron Mike’ stated that the fights that he lost were his “best” fights because they allowed him to learn from his mistakes or add new elements to his fighting style. He further said that the many early knockout wins in his career didn’t teach him anything in boxing. “The fights that I lost those were my best fights, right. I say because that’s my learning stage in life, you know. What did I learn by kicking these guys’ a**es in two seconds?” he stated candidly.

However, Mike Tyson seemed to have changed his opinion because earlier this year he revealed a different opponent to be his toughest-ever competitor. Although, again, he chose an opponent he won against. But why?

What a granite chin actually implies

In an interview with The Sun, Mike Tyson picked another vanquished opponent as his toughest rival in his professional career. “I thought it was Pinklon Thomas. He was my toughest opponent,” Tyson stated. The pair met way back in 1987 for the WBA and WBC Heavyweight title which was held by ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ then. In his usual style, Tyson stopped Thomas in the sixth round, after dominating for nearly the entirety of his fight. But what really amazed Tyson was his opponent’s ability to take punches.

“I hit him with seventeen punches, flat, on the face. He went down but it was seventeen punches!” Tyson said in amazement. He further stressed that Thomas went out on his shield, and therefore he was one of the toughest fighters he faced in his estimation.

“Seventeen punches, flush. All of them were as hard as they could be and the last one he just passed out. I thought ‘God, that is my toughest fight’. He took seventeen on the chin,” he recalled.

Nevertheless, it is quite amazing that Tyson picked two opponents that he won against as his toughest rivals. Safe to say, ‘Iron Mike’s’ perspective of watching fights differs greatly from an average fight fan. Nevertheless, what do you think was Mike Tyson’s toughest fight? Let us know in the comment section below.