Ahead Of ‘Fight Of The Century,’ New Details On Tyson, Mayweather Beef [Video]

Even if he wins the fight of the century tonight, it looks like Floyd Mayweather will always be a “little scared man” in the eyes of Mike Tyson. Apparently, it’s because of a feud that dates back to 2001.

In this video posted on the Source.com, we first see an upbeat Mike Tyson giving his prediction on who will win the Mayweather-Pacquiao bout. After a hesitant initial prediction in favor of Pacquiao, Tyson says, “I think it will be a good fight, I thinks it won’t go the distance and someone is going to get knocked out.”

Then, at around 1:06, the interview takes a turn and Tyson’s attitude completely changes. At this point, the interviewer asks what he thinks about Mayweather’s boasts of being a better fighter than Muhammad Ali. To which Tyson responds, “He’s very delusional”

It’s clear that Tyson, a former undisputed heavyweight champion, doesn’t have high opinion of Mayweather.

“If he was anywhere close to be in the realm of being greater than Ali, then he’d be able to take his kids to school,” Tyson continues. “Greatness is not guarding yourself from the people, greatness is being accepted by the people…He’s a very small, scared man.”

Floyd Mayweather is the world’s highest paid athlete and is known for flaunting his wealth in ways that many find obnoxious.

According to USA Today, the rift between Mayweather and Tyson stems from a belief that Mayweather told the police that Tyson had kidnapped and sexually assaulted a young girl in 2001.

Darryl Francis, Tyson’s former assistant who lived with him at the time, told USA Today that this incident is the root cause behind the verbal jabs Tyson has been throwing towards Mayweather in the lead up to the “fight of the century” between Floyd and Pacquiao.

Tyson later confirmed he’d been informed that Mayweather was involved in the incident. Although he says that he has no proof to back up the accusation, he maintains that, “some serious people said it.”

“I’m good with it now.” Tyson told USA Today. “You can forgive, but you have to remember.”

Tyson also used his Facebook page to clarify his statements about Mayweather. In his statement, he states that he bears no ill will towards Mayweather. He also says that the article that appeared in USA Today was pure conjecture and damaging in the lead up to the fight of the century, which he calls “the biggest fight in decades.”

An article circulated today, which referenced an incident that happened to me many years ago. It was released without…

Posted by Mike Tyson on Friday, May 1, 2015

Based on his statement, it looks like Tyson’s real beef was with the fact that Mayweather said that he was a better fighter than Muhammad Ali. For Tyson, Mayweather could never walk in Ali’s boxing shoes.

“Things got blown out of proportion when I was interviewed the other day about a comment Mayweather made stating he was greater than Ali. I disagree and personally found it insulting because of the love and admiration I have for Muhammad Ali. I thought it was inappropriate to make that kind of reference especially because Ali has done so much, not just in the sport of boxing but for humanity as a whole. In retrospect, I wish I had exercised better discernment in my response because in no way did I want to disrespect Mayweather. The focus should be on the May 2nd bout and the great economic surge this event is generating for the city of Las Vegas. I sincerely wish Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao the best of luck on Saturday night’s historical event.”

The fight of the century between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao takes place tonight at the MGM Grand casino with the bout tentatively scheduled to start at around 11pm EST.