Anthony Joshua gave blunt response to prospect of fight with Mike Tyson

Anthony Joshua previously poured cold water on the potential of challenging Mike Tyson in the boxing ring, admitting he'd enjoy little satisfaction in defeating the sporting icon

Anthony Joshua once admitted his reluctance to fight Mike Tyson - claiming the crowd would boo if he wound up victorious.

Tyson - who remains the youngest fighter to win the heavyweight championship of the world at 20 years of age - is returning to the squared circle next Friday (November 15) when he finally shares the ring with Jake Paul.

The 58-year-old's boxing homecoming has split opinion across the sporting world, with many believing that entering the ring with a fighter 30 years his junior could prove to have devastating consequences.

Unlike Paul, one man who has refused to entertain the notion of taking on Tyson is Joshua, who squashed any potential rumours of the two behemoths coming to blows when asked about it in 2020.

Joshua told The Sun: "With all due respect I wouldn’t. Even if I fought Iron Mike and beat him, I think I’d be the only one cheering. People would boo. He is a legend.

"He is the greatest boxer of the modern era. There are only two recognised champions the world knows of, Ali and Mike Tyson - the most recognised faces in the world when it comes to boxing."

Joshua, 35, was chasing an all-British clash with Tyson Fury, which could happen next year, at the time, and he used the example of David Beckham to form an explanation of why Tyson would return to the ring despite his age.

He added: "I see it like this — how old is David Beckham, 44, 45? If you see him in 10 years kicking a ball, doing 100 kick-ups, a round-the-world and hitting the crossbar and then an overhead volley into the top corner, people would love it.

"But because Mike Tyson is the embodiment of like, the killing machine, he hits the pads for 15 seconds and the whole world goes crazy, it is normal. It is what Tyson knows. But for him to fight... would you be shocked if Beckham came back? You would. But for boxers, it’s all they know."

Despite Joshua's reluctance to fight Tyson, the New Yorker doesn't harbour the same resistance and instead showed his excitement to take on the Brit in 2020, albeit in a charity exhibition.

The possibility was brought up when Tyson was speaking to iFL TV to which he replied: "I would love to do that. That would be mind-blowing."