When Mike Tyson explained why Joe Louis knocking out Joe Walcott is his favorite knockout

Mike Tyson is one of the most ferocious and exciting fighters in the history of boxing. The former heavyweight world champion retired from the sport with a record of 50-6 with 44 knockouts to his name.

Tyson, however, admired many fighters from before his era, including the likes of Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis. The American even shared that Louis' knockout against Joe Walcott in 1948 was his favorite ever.

In an interview during Tyson's boxing career, Tyson spoke about his favorite knockout:

"My favorite knockout, I have to recall, is Jersey Joe Walcott when he was knocked out by Joe Louis. My reason is because a year previous [to that knockout] they fought and Walcott gave him a beating. [He] outboxed him, outsmarted him, and at the end of the fight they gave the decision to Joe Louis, which a lot of people felt was being justified wrongly. So, they fought again and the same thing was about to happen. Louis was on the verge of being stopped and came back [and] put everything together, Joe Louis in 1939 and rallied back to stop Walcott."

Joe Louis retired from boxing with a record of 66-3 including 52 of his wins coming before the final bell. Louis is generally regarded as one of the most influential boxers of all time from his 17-year career.

Watch the full clip of Tyson's take on the knockout here:

---

Who were Mike Tyson's favorite boxers?

Mike Tyson competed between 1985 and 2005, and made his professional debut at the age of 18-years-old. The hard-hitting fighter grew up idolizing the great fighters from the eras before him.

Tyson had a particular admiration for Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson, but his favorite boxers to idolize were Jack Dempsey and Sonny Liston.

In an interview as a retired man, Tyson was asked if he identified with Sonny Liston, and the former champion replied:

"Oh absolutely. I liked Sonny Liston [and] Jack Dempsey... They brought the intimidation factor into boxing. They made it where a guy who's better than you, you can beat him because you allow him to shut down all his instincts because he's intimidated. So that made the whole dynamics of boxing exciting to me."

With 'Iron' Mike Tyson being famous for his intimidating approaches to fights in his career, it's clear to see that Liston and Dempsey were key influences.

Watch the full clip of Tyson here: