Mike Tyson has always revered Muhammad Ali as his idol and holds the great heavyweight in high regard. However, another boxer who he also sought inspiration from was Roberto Duran. Tyson has stated on several occasions that he considers the former 4-division champion in his top 3 boxers of all time.

Iron Mike’s style was very similar to Duran’s, with both being known for their hard-hitting and aggressive styles. In fact, one could argue that Duran was the Mike Tyson of his era.

Duran was feared among the boxers of his generation, garnering the nickname Hands Of Stone. Tyson respected Duran to an extent where he based most of his fighting style on the Panamanian boxer. So it was no surprise that Tyson looked joyous to meet his idol in this rare picture of the two that has surfaced online now.

A rare photo of Tyson and Duran surfaces online

A Twitter page by the handle ‘Boxing History’ uploaded a photo of the former heavyweight champion alongside Duran, where Tyson is only wearing a towel and shaking hands with Duran.

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Smiling in the photo, Tyson seems pleased to meet his idol. Duran also seemed happy to meet Tyson, given he held a lot of respect for Iron Mike.

Who is the harder puncher, Mike Tyson or Roberto Duran?

At first sight, Tyson seems to be the obvious winner in this contest. On pure punching strength, Tyson would be miles ahead of the Panamanian boxer. However, the heavyweight legend does have a 70-pound weight advantage over Duran, who usually competed in the lightweight division.

If we were to go by a pound-for-pound system, it could be argued that Duran is the harder puncher among the two. Hands Of Stone was among the hardest-hitting lightweights in the history of the sport, winning 54 of 62 fights via knockout; an 87% KO rate which is unheard of in the lightweight division.

What did you think of this photo? Let us know in the comments.

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