Mike Tyson is often regarded as the scariest boxer ever to lace up gloves. In the late ’80s, he terrorized the heavyweight division, bulldozing opponents to become the undisputed champion. Yet, Tyson doesn’t see himself as the scariest man in boxing history, at least when compared to other juggernauts of the old. That honor, he believes, remains with his idol, Muhammad Ali’s most terrifying opponent. Who was it?

Sonny Liston. The 6ft 1in giant’s petrifying aura stretched far beyond the ring. Raised in crushing poverty with an abusive father, he fled to St. Louis at just 13. Illiterate and desperate, he drifted into crime, surviving through muggings and armed robberies. By 1950, he was convicted of first-degree robbery and served five years in the Missouri State Penitentiary. Even after boxing saved him, his troubles didn’t end—he once assaulted a police officer, earning another nine months behind bars. His mafia ties only added to his dark, intimidating mystique. His popularity as a boxer grew tenfold when he knocked out the then-heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson in the very first round of their 1962 fight.

“Sonny Liston is the scariest fighter that ever lived,” Mike Tyson said during The Big Podcast with Shaq last month. “Sonny Liston would come to a town, say he’s in St. Louis, and he comes to Chicago, the cops would be [like] ‘Listen, you can’t come.’ He knocked out around four cops, broke their jaw, took their gun, they were beating him with the night stick over his head… There’s no fighter like Sonny Liston. Sonny Liston’s a monster.” Despite Liston’s personality, though, Muhammad Ali made him look like a regular joe.

In February 1964, a 22-year-old heavy underdog by the name of Cassius Clay defeated Liston via technical knockout after Liston failed to answer the bell for the seventh round. The rivals squared off one more time in May 1965. This time his name was Muhammad Ali. Ali knocked out Liston in the first round with a controversial ‘phantom punch’, and stood over him proudly declaring, “Get up and fight, sucker!” And that was it for ‘The Big Bear.’

Despite the fear-inducing persona in his heyday, Liston is most remembered for those losses. Regardless, he went down in boxing history as one of the greats, thanks to his power and skills. And Mike Tyson doesn’t seem to think that Liston’s loss to Muhammad Ali took away from the boxer he was.

Mike Tyson reveals his top four boxers’ list

Mike Tyson has revealed his ultimate list of the four greatest boxers of all time—and none of them were fighters he faced in the ring. During his appearance on The Big Podcast with Shaq in Las Vegas, the former heavyweight champion named Jack Dempsey, Sonny Liston, Muhammad Ali, and George Foreman as his all-time greats.

Tyson explained his admiration for Liston, stating, “Sonny Liston is known for the loss. But that loss just shows you how important Sonny Liston was, because that’s what launched Muhammad Ali for so many years.” He also praised Ali’s brilliance, saying, “Sonny Liston’s the baddest, right? But Ali outsmarted these guys. These guys are bad guys… Ali outsmarted them, and that’s why he beat them.”

It’s clear that Mike Tyson holds Sonny Liston in high regard. Despite Liston’s reputation as the ‘bad guy’ of boxing, Tyson respects the impact he had on the sport and the fear he instilled in his opponents. Who do you think is the scariest boxer?