Mike Tyson has broken down mid-sentence during an emotional interview about heavyweight boxing legend Muhammad Ali.
The former so-called baddest man on the planet needed a few moments to compose himself when asked about Ali's final title fight against WBC champion Larry Holmes in 1980.
Tyson is clearly in aweof the boxing icon and says there is one reason no other boxer will ever measure up to Ali, while speaking on Michael Rapaport's I Am Rapaport Stereo Podcast.
Tyson has previously slammed modern legends, including Floyd Mayweather, for ever comparing themselves to Ali — but we've never seen the former champion so choked up about the never-ending debate of who is the greatest boxer the world has ever known.
The 52-year-old was simply asked by host Rapaport for his thoughts on Holmes' 10th round stoppage of Ali when the star formerly known as Cassius Clay came out of retirement again
"But what made him more special than anything was the internal fortitude. He was tough as nails. He got knocked down, he'd get back up and he'd fight you to the death. You know what I mean? And he got that from Ali — he was Ali's sparring partner.
"This is the thing about Ali, when we were watching him get beat up as an old man — even when I was a young kid — he's not going to quit, you've got to kill him. He won't quit.
"He was getting beat up every round, he had the s*** kicked out of him by Larry Holmes.
"Is the champ done? No, come on, let me out. They wouldn't stop. He had to stand up there and take the beating like a man. He wouldn't quit.
"In that way I respect the guy so much. I have so much admiration for the guy. So much, but it's just not right to do that as a human being. Just say, 'It's over. I'll come back another day. It's over. You got me'.
"I always like to think I'm a bad motherf***er. A vicious motherf***er. I don't give a f***, but that's the part where he, Ali, overshines me, because I can't understand a man that's willing to die for this. I talked the s***, but he's the real deal."
Mike Tyson. Photo / Getty
Tyson then freezes and can't continue his sentence as he's clearly overcome with emotion.
Rapaport then asks why Tyson feels so emotional about the subject before Tyson appears to declare Ali is by far a better boxer than himself.
"Ali is a giant," Tyson replies.
"There's no way other fighters can match him. He'd die for this s***. I'm not going to die for this. That's real talk. Ali is a savage, he's an animal. He's a different bread of person. He's not like us."
When Rapaport attempts to console Tyson, the Hollywood star responds: "F*** that, it's just real talk."
Ali famously lost all 10 rounds of the fight to Holmes before it emerged that the ageing icon should never have been granted a boxing license to make his return in Las Vegas.
Ali was given a medical check at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota before the Nevada State Athletic Committee granted him a license.
It emerged after the fight that the medical report showed Ali struggled to touch his nose with his finger when asked, had slurred speech and had tingling in his hands.
It is all part of the reason why Tyson has so much respect for the champion who died in 2016 at the age of 74.
Tyson recently declared Mayweather was delusional for declaring himself better than Ali.
"He's very delusional," Tyson told Undisputed Champion Network.
"Listen, if he was anywhere near that realm of greatness with Ali he'd be able to take his kids to school by himself. He can't take his kids to school by himself, and he's talking about he's great?
"Greatness is not guarding yourself from the people, greatness is being accepted by the people. He can't take his kids alone to school by himself."
He declared Mayweather will never be counted amongst the greats because of his reputation for running away from dangerous fighters that fans wanted to see him fight against.
