Mike Tyson has been backed to beat the current heavyweight king Tyson Fury in a fantasy boxing match

Mike Tyson has been backed by Riddick Bowe to beat unbeaten WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in a fantasy boxing match. Former WBA and IBF heavyweight world champion Bowe says Tyson would “kill” the unbeaten Gyspy King if they both stepped inside the squared circle in their heydays.

“I think because of Mike’s speed and his punching power, as long as someone is standing in front of him, Mike will destroy them,” Bowe told The Mayweather Channel. “And Fury doesn’t move. So Mike would kill him.”

Bowe never faced 56-year-old Tyson but the pair did go to school together. However, whether Tyson agrees with his long-time friend’s fantasy boxing match prediction is another matter. Tyson hailed WBC champion Fury, 34, as “the best”.

“Fury is the champ, the reigning champ, and is gonna be the champ for a long time,” Tyson said of Fury in the past. Fury hasn’t stepped into the ring since December when he completed his trilogy with Derek Chisora with a TKO win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. A unification heavyweight title fight with Oleksandr Usyk was in the works for 2023, however, a deal fell through despite Saudi Arabia stating their intent to host the mega fight.

Following the collapse of talks, Usyk is expected to take on another British heavyweight, Daniel Dubois. Fury, meanwhile, has teased an upcoming fight announcement but continues to hit out at Ukrainian Usyk, as well as flirting with crossover fights with MMA stars such as Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou was at Fury’s fight against Dillian Whyte and even got into the ring to tease a blockbuster bout, however, talks haven’t progressed leaving the Cameroonian “confused”. “It’s always what I wanted,” Ngannou said of the Fury fight to Mirror Fighting.

“But apparently Tyson Fury’s pretty good at bouncing here and there, I don’t know exactly. But I am here and I want to fight, whenever he really wants it I’m here. It’s been like three years that we’ve been going back and forth on social media so I would be very happy to take that fight.

“I have seen a lot of comments from Tyson Fury at this point of things I’m a little confused! I don’t know if he enjoys doing comments or enjoys fighting, at this point but as I’ve said I am here and I am ready my team have been working on getting in touch with him and his team which so far we are not there yet but we are in conversation.”