It’s not often that two completely different sports titans go up against each other, unless you’re Rocky and Thunderlips, of course.
But, in 1988, Tottenham and England legend Jimmy Greaves took on Mike Tyson, then one of the most recognizable men in the sport, in the ring.
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Mike Tyson hits Larry Holmes in 1988 just a few months before chatting with Jimmy Greaves
Football fans of a certain age were disheartened to hear the news of the passing of Ian St John this week, the Liverpool and Scottish legend who ran one of the most iconic football shows of the ’80s.
The former forward died Monday night at the age of 82.
And talkSPORT delved into the archives to bring you one of the great highlights of the popular show, when Saint’s right-hand man met Tyson… and got more than he bargained for.
Listen to this classic talkSPORT interview: Max Rushden talks to the legendary Ian St John
Greaves traveled to Catskill, New York, just to spend time with ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’, who, at the time, had just won his 34th fight in a row and was planning a fight with Britain’s Frank Bruno.
After knocking out Tony Tubbs in Tokyo, to retain his WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight titles, Greaves was perhaps an unlikely opponent for Tyson.
However, the greatest English striker ever visited New York to take on the 21-year-old boxing wonder boy as part of ITV’s fantastic coverage of the 1988 FA Cup final between Liverpool and Wimbledon.
And it’s a golden piece of television when Greaves takes on The Champ; Jimmy even does some rib digging too! Check it out below …
When it came to big-name catches, Saint and Greavsie didn’t just stop at ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’. No, they also traveled to New York and visited the future president of the United States, and Donald Trump even entered the raffle for the Rumbelows Cup!
“In fairness to Donald, he was really good to us,” St John told The Guardian in 2016.
“He respected the fact that Jimmy and I were professionals and asked about it as the crew prepared to film the giveaway. We also had a good chat about golf, as he liked it a lot and we played a bit.
But, like I say, I had no idea about football and I certainly had no idea what Rumbelows was either. We don’t bother to explain it to him.
So I would have had no idea how great it was to bring Manchester United and Leeds together.
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