Iron Mike’s become a cartoon character, says Lewis

Lennox Lewis today branded Mike Tyson a ‘‘cartoon character’’ after the former heavyweight champion said he wanted to kill him.

The British boxer said Iron Mike was ‘‘ignorant, arrogant and an imbecile’’ as the war of words between the two fighters escalated ahead of their eagerly awaited June 8 bout.

The 36-year-old also joked about the high-profile brawl between the two men in New York in January when Lewis claimed Tyson had bitten him on the thigh.

’’I’m definitely not afraid of Mike Tyson. I’m the best there is.

’’I’m the top of the food chain - but hopefully he’s not going to get a bite out of me again.’’

Lewis’ comments came after Tyson said in an interview in his training camp in Hawaii last week that his main objective in the bout was to be ‘‘professional - but to kill him’’.

Lewis said he had not paid much attention to what his rival was saying.

‘‘Some of the things he’s been saying make him sound like a cartoon character to me.

‘‘When he was incarcerated he said he was reading books. Seems to me he must have been reading comic books.

‘‘I don’t think he’s off his head, he’s maybe looking for an excuse to not even fight me.’’

Lewis said the only thing he was afraid of in life was losing - but that helped drive him on.

The boxer spoke during a press conference at his training camp about 100 miles from New York City.

He later demonstrated the shape he was in with some light sparring dressed in shorts which appeared to have been inspired by the new Spider-Man movie which opened in America this week.

Lewis’s showdown with Tyson at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis is already a sell-out.

Ticket sales have produced a record gross gate £15 million shattering the previous £11 million set in November 1999 at the Lewis-Holyfield clash.