MIKE TYSON hailed Muhammad Ali, the late boxing legend, as 'the greatest man' on the occasion of his 80th birthday.
After a long battle against Parkinson's disease, the former heavyweight champion of the globe died in summer 2016.
Mike Tyson was raised idolizing Muhammad Ali
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Iron Mike was a Tyson fan as a kid and paid tribute on Twitter to him on Monday morning.
He tweeted, "Happy Birthday to the greatest man of all time, Muhammad Ali."
"He encouraged those at the lowest levels of life to achieve the highest.
"Not only in boxing, but also in life."
Tyson holds Ali in high regard and sings praises of The Greatest regularly.
He proudly shared an old photo from September of last year of Ali's meeting on his Instagram account.
The caption that accompanied his photo read: "Still an admirer @muhammadali#thegreatest."
Tyson is so infatuated with Ali that he believes the smartest trash talker of all times would beat him if they had fought in their primes.
Yahoo Sports told him: "It's a fantasy sport."
"Most likely, I would win the fantasy fight. But I wouldn't win in the real fight." Ali is the greatest fighter there has ever been."
Tyson believes Ali's tenacity would have tamed the famed ferociousness.
He told GQ in 2016: "He will fight you until the end. He is a pit bull, or a f ****g-rooster.
He looked more like a model than he was in his prime. He was more like a model and less like a fighter.
He was a dead-game guy. He was dead-game. He was too proud. He refused to let go."
He said, "Ali has been the most competitive fighter of all time."
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