Khabib Nurmagomedov admires the career of the legendary Mike Tyson. However, the Dagestani confessed that the former heavyweight champion had pissed him off in the past.
At 57, Mike Tyson is still much talked about. The American left his mark on the world of boxing and combat sports more broadly. Out of 56 professional fights, the ‘Kid Dynamite’ has won 50 victories, 44 of them by knockout. And it must be said that Tyson was already formidable as a teenager. At only 15 years old, he was already slamming devastating knockouts. However, the New York native is far from considering himself the most powerful boxer, and has named the strongest boxer in history.
#OnThisDay in 2003 Mike Tyson wipes out Clifford Etienne in Round 1.
This would be the final win of Tyson's career pic.twitter.com/9tY0qxX6IQ— Against The Ropes (@ATRboxinguk) February 22, 2016
There’s no doubt that Iron Mike has inspired many fighters, whether in the noble art… or in MMA! Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has repeatedly admitted to growing up watching Mike Tyson’s exploits on TV. On the former boxer’s podcast ‘Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson’, 34-year-old Khabib confessed that Tyson pissed him off as a child.
“You pissed me off a bit”
“I remember that on February 23, 2003, you were going to face Clifford Etienne. A week before the fight, all the Russian media were talking about that. I asked my father to wake me up at fight time because I really wanted to see him. So we thought we were going to watch it together. In the end, you knocked out Etienne in the first round and you pissed me off a bit. I had waited so long for this fight. »
Khabib, living in Russia, had no choice but to get up in the night to watch Mike Tyson’s fight, which was taking place in Memphis (USA). No luck, as the ‘Kid Dynamite’ took the victory in 49 seconds.
