Search icon

Boxing

18th Jan 2024

Fighter dubbed ‘toughest white guy on the planet’ by Mike Tyson calls out John Fury

SportsJOE

“I think the two of us would have a great boxing match.”

An Irish fighter once dubbed ‘toughest white guy on the planet’ by Mike Tyson has called out John Fury, father of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.

John Egan was an ex fighter who had previously trained with Mike ‘Iron’ Tyson, the boxer who was widely described as the ‘baddest man on the planet.’

The Irishman became close friends with Iron Mike after being the only sparring partner who could survive a three-minute round with the ferocious American back when he was in his prime.

Despite only being a teenager himself, Egan impressed the then heavyweight champ by holding his ground, and showing real grit and heart to survive in the ring.

He told The Sun in November: “If you are going to get battered you might as well get battered by the best.

Mike Tyson

I got battered by Mike Tyson and I got battered by Lennox Lewis when I fought him in 1985.

“It was a privilege to share the ring with both of them and it is an honour to say Mike Tyson has been my close friend for 40 years now. He visited my mother at home in Ireland four times.”

However, Egan isn’t satisfied with this accolade alone, and now wants to fight Fury, who not only fathered the current heavyweight champ, but was a professional fighter in his own right.

Mike Tyson
Credit: Youtube

Once ranked third in the country, he suffered knockout defeats to former WBO champion Henry Akinwande and Steve Garber and retired with an 8-4-1 record, but that didn’t include his bouts in bare-knuckle boxing.

None of that scares Egan however, and in a callout video uploaded to YouTube earlier this week, the Irishman said: “Hello everyone. I have one last hurrah in me. I haven’t fought in over 20 years.

“John Fury is my friend and he is a good fighting man, same as myself, a good fighting man and I think the two of us would have a great boxing match.

Katie Taylor Exclusive | Making history, Croke Park dreams, Jake Paul and life after boxing